Ratten said his side racked up 80 ineffective/clanger kicks in the six-point win over the Crows at Etihad Stadium but wasn't going to lose sleep over the consistent sloppiness when planning for next week.
"I thought it was a bad night. I thought some players that can kick the ball extremely well [didn't], and maybe it was a little bit of a structural issue too, with personnel, at times," he said.
"We were maybe a little bit small at times so we tried to be a little bit cute with the footy.
"I thought it was just a poor night. Blokes that you would back in nine out of 10 to hit the target missed some of those targets, and I thought it was more just our execution on the night."
The Blues' forward line worked better than it did in the draw against Essendon with an increase in pressure seeing 27 tackles recorded inside the forward 50.
Former defender Andrew Walker was the most potent forward with four goals and four tackles, which Ratten believes came from his brush with the substitute rule over the past two weeks.
Walker was subbed off in round three against Collingwood and started off wearing the green vest against Essendon last week.
"Sometimes the sub can be used as a motivating thing for players to give them a sting, and it was for Andrew," Ratten said.
"He responded brilliant tonight and I thought his last quarter against Essendon the other day was pretty good as well.
"He probably should have got used a couple of times with the ball but we somehow missed him but I thought he was pretty good last week as well."
While it wasn't the most impressive or convincing of wins, Ratten was pleased to walk away from the night with four points after a trying two weeks that involved a loss to the Magpies and a draw with the Bombers.
He said some "big moments" from players, including Walker, Aaron Joseph (who was subbed on in the third quarter), and Kade Simpson helped generate influential plays.
"It's good to get over the line. We've had a few close ones, we've lost those, so to the players, it's a real pat on the back for their character to come back," he said.
"It looked like we just had no run or where the next goal was going to come from.
"At the end of the day, we take the four points and say we had to really fight and it's good growth for our group."
Ratten praised the work rate of Chris Judd and Marc Murphy, who were the side's most influential, but said the improvement in forward pressure was a major plus overall.
"We create stoppages, give ourselves another chance, so from that point of view, I thought that was a big tick," he said.
"We got out-marked a couple of times, but all in all, I thought that was another big step in the right direction."
Chris Yarran was subbed off in the third quarter with a conservative approach in mind after he cramped in the hamstring he injured last year.
