The Saints coach was the most animated he has been on Saturday since returning to the club, in the midst of their 45-point loss to Brisbane at Marvel Stadium.
Lyon did not mince his words when talking to the players at quarter-time after the Lions racked up a whopping 24 inside 50s to six in the opening term.
While the Saints rallied - they were only 17 points down in the third term - they were never going to overhaul the Lions.
It follows last week's 71-point loss to the Western Bulldogs, and while the Saints have beaten Geelong and Port Adelaide this season, the past fortnight shows how far they have to go.
"We know what the promised land looks like, a number of us have been on the other side - what really high-level looks like," Lyon said.
"We're all on that journey, but you have to make sure you build out your capabilities so you don't fall by the wayside.
"How do you improve it after an old bloke comes down (at quarter-time) and says 'how about you focus on this, this and this?' and then it tidies up pretty quick.
"(It) tells you mentally, they weren't tuned in mentally to the conditions and the opponents like they needed to, so that was really disappointing."
The old bloke in question gave it to the Saints right between the eyes.
"Not a spray, but I was animated ... (the most) since I've been back at the club," Lyon said.
"AFL teams don't do this under pressure. I just coach action ... you can't read minds.
"We're talking top of the pops (Brisbane). Did I think coming here it was going to be a picnic? I wouldn't have thought so."
There were encouraging signs, with Lyon calling Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera "fantastic" in the midfield.
He also praised Jack Higgins, who kicked three goals, noting the small forward has overcome a brain tumour to continue his AFL career.
But that first quarter infuriated Lyon.
"You win the ball, first possession off the ruck's hand, either they're too big and strong and strip it, or we just flick it out flippantly and the ball just gets swept away," he said.
"That's what happened a lot - after quarter-time they responded to that.
"We had some good passages, but we're not executing at a high enough standard for long enough."
Lyon was also unapologetic about subbing out Hugo Garcia early in the second term.
"Sometimes you have to stop talking about it and sometimes you just go 'bang'," he said.
"I pulled the sub, tried to get something done."
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