There were 11 goals kicked in the opening quarter alone at Etihad Stadium, ahead of a total of 37 goals scored for the game that included seven lead changes.
While McCartney was happy for his group to celebrate its seventh win for the season, he said it still left them with plenty to work on, including not allowing the scoreboard to overshadow what was happening on the field.
"It seemed like a pretty good game to watch, I would have thought. Entertaining, but probably a bit open for what we'd like," McCartney said.
"The ball was up and back [in the first quarter]. At times you need to be able to do it but just as importantly you need to be able to shut it down.
"Just to put the record straight, we don't want to be a club that just plays a brawling mass of people either. We want to be able to deal with a game like that and also be really good in other areas of the game too.
"I'm not going to get too picky because it was a good win for our club and another nice step forward."
The combination of Tory Dickson, who has played 10 games this season after ankle surgery, and Tom Campbell for 10 goals was a highlight, especially for a team that has yearned for a reliable forward set up.
"They bobbed up when other people were finding it hard to draw the ball close to goal," McCartney said.
"It's just taken maybe five or six weeks to get [Dickson's] legs back and that turning and cutting ... he's a very capable player. All through his history he's been able to kick goals.
"For us to find 20 goals today from only 46 entries, it's sort of against the grain for us.
"We've needed 65, 68 entries to kick 20 goals so our forward line has been a point of conjecture for a while now but we're gradually getting there, bit by bit."
After trailing for much of the first half, the Crows pushed out to a 22-point lead late in the third quarter.
McCartney said the Dogs' turnaround was sparked by the players putting thoughts of the result aside and becoming more concerned with what was in front of them.
"We were too focused on getting a win instead of just playing the game as it unfolds and dealing with what's happening out there," he said.
"We had to adjust a lot of things on the run today to get momentum and stop some momentum.
"I think the result was in everyone's minds and that can mean you can just get a bit carried away when you're three or four up, like we did, and open the game up and get a bit panicky when you're a couple down, which we did.
"That's the lesson to take out of the game."
