The Hawks turned in one of their most complete performances of the season against the second-placed Bombers, with contributions across the board highlighted by Lance Franklin's eight goals.
After leaving Launceston with an uninspiring 19-point victory against the lowly Bulldogs last Saturday, Clarkson's men were back at their ruthless best in the Etihad Stadium clash.
"We were really pleased with the way we played tonight," the premiership coach said post-match.
"We were a little bit scratchy with our form last week against the Dogs.
"We'd had a pretty heavy month – we'd travelled three times out of the last four – and we weren't playing our greatest footy last week.
"It was really pleasing to get into good conditions under a closed roof and play some good footy.
"Essendon play this ground really, really well, so to be able to stop the flow of the way they like to play their footy was really important, particularly early.
"They got away to a bit of a start and it looked like they were getting the game on their terms, but for us to correct that and get in front by half-time was a really great effort by our players."
The Hawks trailed by 13 points midway through the first quarter but dictated terms from then on.
Stars Sam Mitchell, Luke Hodge, Cyril Rioli, Jordan Lewis, Franklin and Jarryd Roughead (four goals) were all excellent, along with Paul Puopolo (10 tackles) and Shane Savage among many others.
"We were really pleased with the contributions we got from all our players tonight," Clarkson said.
"It was a real team effort."
However, with five matches still to come before the finals and an opportunity to earn redemption for last year's Grand Final loss, Clarkson made it clear the ladder leaders would not be resting on one big game.
"We want to be peaking in September," he said.
