The Crows were in the game, winning the areas of contested possession, clearances and inside 50s but paid the ultimate price for wayward kicking in front of goal.
The Adelaide players also executed poorly in general play, turning the ball over by hand and foot and gifting the Blues a number of easy goals.
The Crows trailed by seven goals late in the third quarter, but persisted with their high-risk, run-and-carry style of play with some success.
The home side had a chance to cut the margin to 21 points early in the final term, but forward Kurt Tippett sprayed the shot on goal and Carlton promptly scored at the other end.
No team has made the finals after dropping the opening four games under the current top-eight system, but Davis said there were signs on Saturday that suggested his side was about to turn the corner.
“A few things looked like they were going well and we have 25 scoring shots, which is good but we need to capitalise on those and tidy up our skills," he said.
"We’re in the game for extended periods of time, but we’ve got to finish off. We kicked 6.19 and if we’d kicked even a half of those (behinds) we would’ve been right in the game,” Davis said.
“The season’s definitely not over. We know we’ve got the game that can match it with the best and eventually it’s going to come off, so we’ll crack in again Monday and next Friday night against the Bulldogs.
“Hopefully, we’ll get a win and build the season from there.”
Davis was one of the few shining lights for Adelaide on Saturday afternoon.
The 18-year-old showed more composure on debut than some of his experienced teammates, picking up 16 disposals and seven marks at centre half-back.
After the game coach Neil Craig praised Davis’ performance, but the former No.10 draft pick played down his performance saying it was just “OK”.
“There were a couple of errors I made that I’d like to improve on, but it was a good start. It was big step up and I was pretty tired by the end of the game,” Davis said.
“There were a few things I did a bit wrong in the NAB Cup in terms of my positioning and knowing the team structures, but I’ve worked on those areas over the last four or five weeks and have hopefully become a better player.”
The Crows should be bolstered by the return of midfielder Nathan van Berlo for Friday night’s clash with the Western Bulldogs, while the club has confirmed forward Trent Hentschel will miss 4-6 weeks after having more surgery on his troublesome knee.
