Northampton Saints 29 Harlequins 49: Tom Vickers' review and player ratings

And what is unfolding at Franklin’s Gardens right now is right up there, or right down there, whichever way you want to view it.

Off the field, the club continues to battle the immense financial impact of an unprecedented global pandemic.

And on it, there is just as little cheer.

For the majority of this calendar year, it has been about somehow seeking positives in defeat to keep spirits up.

Saints have now suffered 14 losses in the past 16 matches they have played in what is surely one of the most striking and surprising slumps in modern sporting history.

There can’t be too many teams who have reached the end of January in such rude health but approached December in such dismay.

Saints, from securing a sensational win at French giants Lyon have fallen to shipping 49 points at home to a, let’s be honest, largely average Harlequins side.

Yes, Quins played really well on another sobering Saturday at the Gardens.

But let’s not forget that this is a team who were beaten 33-3 by Exeter Chiefs on their own turf just last week.

This is a team that finished sixth in the Premiership last season.

And this is a team that had not won in Northampton since December 2012.

But here, eight years on, they came up against a team that has not been this horrendous against Harlequins since a shambolic day at Twickenham in the final game of 2017.

Back then, Saints were outplayed and completely overwhelmed as they slipped to a shocking 50-21 defeat.

They were rudderless, with long-serving and largely successful boss Jim Mallinder having left the club earlier that month.

They looked lost and it looked like it would take a miracle to turn around a team that had racked up 12 defeats in 13 matches in all competitions.

But in came tough-talking Aussie Alan Gaffney, who teamed up with Alan Dickens to not only save Saints but to lay a platform for the following summer, when Chris Boyd arrived as boss.

And Saints had seemed to have rebuilt since then.

Boyd brought smiles and a style of play that lifted backsides from seats. Rather than walking out early, fans were standing up to applaud their players.

And until a lowly London Irish side secured a shock success in Northampton at the end of January, the upward curve was very much continuing.

But how badly things have unravelled since then.

So much so that Saints have now lost all eight home league games in a hugely troubled 2020.

Some performances have brought the occasional positive, hope that a corner could soon be turned.

But that was not the case on Saturday afternoon. Not at all.

Saints conceded six tries against a Quins team who seemed to cut through at will at times.

The black, green and gold were never in front in the game, always playing catch-up, just as they were when losing 32-23 in the season opener at Sale Sharks eight days earlier.

There was some resilience against the Sharks, some things you felt Saints could build on.

They had character and strength in the set piece, but again they proved far too porous in defence.

And that was the story against Quins, except the good bits had gone, left on the AJ Bell Stadium soil.

Saints were pulled apart by Quins in alarming fashion.

Once more, it felt like whenever the opposition entered the home 22 they would score a try or, if they couldn't do that, win a penalty to pile more points on the scoreboard.

It has become a tortuous theme this year.