The Bulldogs were heavily criticised in the media for their lacklustre effort in the 28-point defeat against the previously winless Blues.
And according to McCartney, the coaches' review was also fierce.
"I don't know if they've been stung externally, but we stung them internally," McCartney said on Thursday.
"We all accept responsibility for a pretty average day on Sunday. Really, the scoreboard flattered what happened. It should have been a lot worse, but we're confident we'll bounce back [against Adelaide at Etihad Stadium on Sunday].
"We think we're building some resilient boys who know what they want to stand for and know how they want to be seen and want to be accountable to each other.
"We get an opportunity in another three days to improve on what we served up last week."
McCartney said the internal criticism involved verbal feedback in groups and individually, and watching footage of the loss. Training was also challenging.
"Most weeks don't differ much in a footy department, but some weeks have a bit more pepper in them than others," McCartney said.
Selection decisions this week and roles handed out to players on game day would also reflect the coaches' disappointment.
Asked if the Dogs got ahead of themselves following wins over Richmond and GWS, McCartney replied: "No, you're not going to get that out of me.
"We got beaten by a club that was under a lot of pressure and played very well. I respect how they dealt with the adversity that was on their doorstep and they came out and answered.
"It's a really good example of how the game can change quickly for the better or for the worse for you."
The Dogs have slipped to 2-3 and are in danger of falling two wins behind the top eight if they don't beat the in-form Crows, who have won their past two by big margins to get their season up and running.
"They've scored quickly, freely. They've put the game away in the first half both weeks," McCartney said.
"We'll have our work cut out for us. We need to be better in some areas of the game that we were quite poor at on Sunday to be competitive and we're confident we'll fix that up."
McCartney said the Bulldogs still "want to play footy" but needed to identify and shutdown opponents who get a run on.
"The challenge will be if they do get some ascendancy and get some good ball movement going well, we can't just let it keep happening," he said.
The Bulldogs hope to welcome back Dale Morris, who faces a race against time to return from an ankle injury, but the veteran defender did train with the main group on Thursday morning.
"(It's) a bit of an uphill battle but it's looking better today than it did two days ago, but he's far from certain," McCartney said.
The Bulldogs have had the wood over Adelaide at Etihad Stadium, winning six of the seven matches between the clubs at the venue.
