The Dolphins led 26-12 last week before losing 28-26 at Penrith and had a 14-0 advantage midway through the first half against the Titans at Suncorp Stadium on Sunday.
That lead was extinguished by the 59th minute as the visitors rallied and the Dolphins' discipline went out the window.
When Klese Haas swooped on a Chris Randall grubber kick that hit the upright, the Titans had a 20-14 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Veteran Kieran Foran iced the win with a field goal after coach Des Hasler gave his side a bake at halftime.
Last year at the same venue the Dolphins trailed 26-0 before launching the equal-biggest comeback in premiership history to win 28-26.
This time Gold Coast showed the character and class to fight back with winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira scoring a double to take his season tally to 19.
AKP scores his second! 😤— NRL (@NRL) #NRLDolphinsTitans pic.twitter.com/fUVgfbw8NJJuly 28, 2024
The Dolphins are in eighth on 24 points but their second-half collapses have become an issue that has put their finals hopes in jeopardy after six losses from the past eight games.
Dolphins prop Tevita Pangai Jnr followed an Isaiya Katoa grubber and juggled the ball before scoring after it had been spilled by Titans winger Jojo Fifita.
Fellow prop Jesse Bromwich was the beneficiary of a sublime short ball from Katoa and barged over the top of Gold Coast forward David Fifita to make it 12-0 after 15 minutes.
The Dolphins has a try to Jack Bostock disallowed when centre Herbie Farnworth was ruled to have interfered with Titans defenders.
Dolphins prop Josh Kerr was sin-binned for holding centre Brian Kelly back during an attacking raid on the cusp of halftime, a moment that turned the match. Kelly then scored in the next set to get the visitors back in it, trailing just 14-6 at the break.
Bostock again had a try disallowed when he bobbled the ball at dummy-half before scoring.
The Dolphins were sloppy in the second half and the Titans made them pay with winger Khan-Pereira crossing for two tries, both after passes by Jayden Campbell that hit the deck, to level it up at 14-all. From there Gold Coast ramped it up and the Dolphins faded.
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