The Tigers level-pegged with the undefeated Magpies in the second term and piled on six goals to two in a superb third quarter, but conceded eight goals in the first and nine in the last to lose by 71 points.
"I think the second and third quarters were really good quarters, it's just winning the contested ball is pretty inconsistent," Edwards told afl.com.au.
"The first quarter, we just didn't touch the footy and we lost the quarter by about seven goals.
"Same as the last quarter. It was a blowout because we kept losing the contested ball."
Highlighting Edwards' point, in Collingwood's two dominant quarters combined, they amassed a whopping 95 contested possessions to Richmond's 47.
In the intervening two terms, the Tigers won the count 64-58.
"When we win the contested ball, which we did in the third quarter, we're a good side. We just need to win it," Edwards said.
The 22 year-old, who gathered 22 disposals for the night, also noted that his side needs to quickly halt an emerging trend of starting poorly, having also conceded a big quarter-time lead to Hawthorn last week.
"We need to have that as our focus for our next game against the Kangaroos - starting really strong," Edwards said.
"Starting slowly puts us on the back foot. We catch up, but then we've spent a lot of our energy trying to catch up, and we just got overrun in the end."
Although disappointed to lose, Edwards was pleased the Tigers were able to show glimpses of how dangerous they can be when their fast-moving, direct, often risky style of play comes off.
"Playing against Collingwood, the only way you're going to win is by taking risks," he said.
"That's why Geelong was such a good side for such a long time, because they had an attacking gameplan and their skills were really good.
"It's hard to stop when you're winning the ball and your skills are good and you're taking them on, so that's what we're trying to achieve."
With that in mind, Edwards expects his team to start seeing better results over the next month, which features assignments against North Melbourne, the Brisbane Lions, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs.
"The next four rounds, we want to win all four, and we're confident that we can," he said.
