The Eagles have kicked a combined 7.23 after half-time in their past three games, including a costly 5.11 in their three-point loss to Carlton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Eagles dominated the first half of the last quarter against the Blues, kicking the first five scores to take a 24-point lead at the 12-minute mark.
But their lead could have been so much bigger with just one of those scores a goal – substitute Dom Sheed's set shot at the nine-minute mark.
When the Blues subsequently hit the front, Mark Hutchings, Scott Selwood, Josh Kennedy and Luke Shuey had shots to give West Coast the lead, but all missed, with Selwood and Kennedy hitting the post within a minute of each other.
Coming on the back of a 2.6 second half in their 14-point loss to Port Adelaide at Patersons Stadium last Saturday night, Simpson knew the Eagles' goalkicking was going to be raised as an issue in the aftermath of their fadeout loss.
But the Eagles coach said it was not just wayward goalkicking that was costing his team.
"At the moment when the test is right there, (when it was) right on in the last two weeks, we haven't responded. So that's something we've got to get right," Simpson said.
"It was not just the goalkicking though. I thought in the contested ball we got done, at the stoppages, there are some other things there that we need to address.
"It's one thing to do kicking at goal at training, but under pressure it very rarely counts.
"I get the sense it's going to be harped on a fair bit, the goalkicking, and I can see why, but there are other things in our game that we need to get right as well."
Simpson admitted he did not know if his team had gone into its shell as the Blues piled on the final five goals of the game.
But he said his players had not been able to find a way to win when the Blues seized the momentum.
"Did we go into our shells? Like I said, there wasn't really a pattern of scoring (by Carlton) that we can identify as a coaching group and as a playing group," Simpson said.
"We just didn't steel ourselves for that period of time and we didn't take opportunities in the first 15 minutes when we dominated.
"So I'm going to learn a lot from today, but it really hurts."
Simpson defended ruckman Nic Naitanui who had 10 disposals and 24 hitouts against the Blues, continuing a quiet start to 2014.
But Simpson said Naitanui's work rate was not a problem.
"He just needs to keep playing. We need to keep giving him time and get his body right and get him to the point where he's confident," Simpson said.
"He might not have been outstanding, but I think he's taking steps forward."
Twitter: @AFL_Nick.
