Craig has copped the brunt of the criticism for the Crows' disappointing second-half display against the Power, with former coach Robert Shaw the latest in a long line of critics to question Craig's game plan and so-called lack of a 'Plan B'.
Adelaide led by 34 points early in the second quarter at AAMI Stadium on Saturday night, but capitulated in the second half, going down by five goals.
The Crows experienced similar lows against Hawthorn and Fremantle in their first two matches of the season, but were at least able to arrest the opposition's momentum in both games.
Craig said the difference against Port Adelaide was that his side was unable to regain control of the contested ball, losing that critical figure 42-25 after half time.
"I'm in charge of the team, so I understand the backlash, particularly when you saw the contrast in the game," he said on Thursday.
"The question is did we [as coaches] react? Did we react against Hawthorn in round one? Did we react after half time against Fremantle [in round three]?
"Unless you're involved directly in the footy club I don't expect people to see and know exactly what we did [against Hawthorn and Fremantle], but it was underpinned by still remaining competitive and [winning] the contested ball, which drives everything.
"What we weren't able to do against Port with the changes that we made was stem the tide, because we weren't able to get this area of still being fiercely competitive for the contested area of the game.
"If that's what we're getting criticised for on the weekend, for not doing anything, the criticism is not valid.
"The criticism for not being able to implement what we tried to do is valid."
The Crows will attempt to respond against Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night.
Craig conceded it would take time for the inexperienced players in the team to establish consistency, but said top-tier players including Bernie Vince and Richard Douglas needed to lift to support workhorses Scott Thompson and Nathan van Berlo in the midfield.
"Bernie and Richard need to do more and they understand that. Patrick Dangerfield needs to keep working hard - we need a bit more out of them," Craig said.
"It's got to be a collective thing for this group. The team that we had two or three years ago in terms of experience had been through it and the majority were hardened AFL players.
"At the moment we've got some players in our team, who have got enormous talent, but they need to understand that this [contested ball] can't drop away.
"It'll come. They're not perfect from day one."
