Adelaide choked on their own alarmingly high error count on the way to a 32-point AFL beating by the rejuvenated Western Bulldogs at AAMI Stadium on Sunday.

Up by a point at the end of an error-riddled first half, the Bulldogs destroyed the Crows with eight goals to one in the third quarter, ultimately cruising to a 17.16 (118) to 12.14 (86) win.

Captain Brad Johnson, Jason Akermanis (three goals), Robert Murphy (four), Nathan Eagleton, Lindsay Gilbee and Matthew Boyd were outstanding for the Dogs, while Adam Cooney did as he pleased in the pivotal third.

Adelaide had few winners, though young forward Taylor Walker (four goals) had his best game for the club so far and Kurt Tippett battled manfully in the ruck.

Centreman Scott Thompson began brilliantly with a 16-disposal first term, but tailed off as the match wore on amid a sea of errant kicks and poor handpasses.

Crows coach Neil Craig said he was committed to promoting a speedier, handball-heavy game plan through his young team, despite the horror show that often eventuated.

"We've actually tried to incorporate that (speed) into our game from the previous week when we thought we were a slow, safe footy club," he said.

"And what I saw today in terms of those turnovers really didn't surprise me, because we're now asking guys to think quicker, keep the ball, make a quicker decision, run more, use a bit more handball.

"The role of handball with the way we're going to continue to play is to take the opposition on, to be able to carry the ball up into our forward line, not just kick it all the time, carry it all around the ground, get two on ones.

"That requires handball to continue to make the ball move.

"(Errors are) a typical symptom of a side when it makes a strong decision to slightly change the way it's going to move the ball."

Adelaide's fans showed their distaste for a Mother's Day lunchtime start, the crowd of 31,742 the lowest for a Crows home game since 29,895 watched them play St Kilda in round 15, 2002.

Both sides made a handful of errors in the first term, but that trickle became a flood in the lead-up to halftime.

The Bulldogs were able to muster a little more composure, with Eagleton's running goal giving them the narrowest of leads at the main break.

The Bulldogs then emerged from the rooms with skills as sharp as they had been in the season's earliest weeks, while Adelaide continued to waste possession at an alarming rate.

Akermanis, Cooney and Johnson were all involved to cut the Crows to ribbons in a 10-minute patch that produced six unanswered goals and effectively ended the contest.

Dogs coach Rodney Eade said his side had never lost their will to fight over the course of three straight losses leading into this match.

"We haven't played well the last three weeks, but the effort was there," he said.

"I think if you get a baseline of effort, as a coach you can't go crook if they're trying really hard."

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