PRESSURE could hold the key to Adelaide getting on an extended run and turning its season around after a Showdown win that kept the Crows alive in 2024. 

Adelaide has bounced back to form and recorded its best pressure game of the season against the Power last Thursday night, pushing the gauge to 200 across a match for the first time this season. 

The Crows laid 73 tackles (well above their season average of 60.6) to the Power's 65 and were well-served by midfielders Jake Soligo (10 tackles and 31 pressure acts), Rory Laird (seven and 28) and Matt Crouch (seven and 24) in putting heat on the opposition. 

The performance has helped lift the Crows to fourth overall in pressure this season, with the tenacious Soligo making a clear difference since he was injected into the midfield against Fremantle in round three. 

Captain Jordan Dawson and Laird also now rank equal sixth in the AFL for tackles (51). 

The result of the Crows' high pressure Showdown performance was forcing the Power into their worst kicking game in five years, going at 55 per cent efficiency. 

That was helped by an inaccurate Power performance in front of goal, with Ken Hinkley's team kicking 5.18 for the match, including 2.14 after quarter-time. 

The Crows, meanwhile, have improved their own shot at goal accuracy from 38 per cent during their 0-4 opening month to 60 per cent across the past four weeks, which have included wins against Carlton, North Melbourne and the Power, and a three-point loss to Essendon.  

They have ranked No.1 across the competition during the past month for goals per inside 50, and No.4 for goals conceded per opposition inside 50. 

Indeed, there is a lot turning around with the Crows, who remain two games out of the eight in 12th (3-5) but have an opportunity now to push up the ladder if they can build on their form. 

A courageous but injury-depleted Brisbane awaits on Sunday at Adelaide Oval before clashes against Collingwood (MCG), West Coast (Adelaide Oval), Hawthorn (MCG), and Richmond (Adelaide Oval). 

If the ladder is a guide, the Crows sit above all of those teams except the Magpies and getting a positive win-loss ledger by round 13 should be a realistic goal. 

The season looked gone at 0-4, and the mountain may well prove too high to climb for the Crows. But pressure as a foundation will be the key if they are to do it.