The Cats were unable to match the Crows on Friday night at the Adelaide Oval, going down by 21 points.

Cats Media identified three angles to follow throughout the game. Here's how they played out:

The view from the top 

A 21-point loss to the Crows was a nightmare for the Cats on Friday night. Come Sunday afternoon, it all didn’t look so bad.

The win allowed Adelaide to skip a game and a half clear on top of the ladder, while a Giants’ win over Richmond would have seen Geelong slip even further behind to third. But luck fell in the Cats favour with Greater Western Sydney suffering a 19-point defeat to the Tigers, allowing Geelong to hold firm in second spot with a two-point buffer that could prove pivotal come finals.

The clouds of injury 

Patrick Dangerfield played and played well enough to receive second mention in the Cats’ best players.

The game was not his most impactful, though we mark him harsher than any other player – 25 disposals, three clearances, 10 tackles and a goal still makes for good reading. But the reigning Brownlow Medallist was under siege from his former side at every opportunity, fighting off two and three opponents at any given time as the Crows put a lot of work into him.

Rory Sloane also lined up despite questions over his own health stemming from a concussion the week previously. Sloane had 28 disposals, seven clearances, seven tackles and kicked 3.2 to be Adelaide’s best and no doubt pick up three Brownlow votes.

The Shootout: Take 2

What happens when you put two of the best offences in the game against one another? The goals dry up.

Adelaide and Geelong averaged 113.6 and 101.7 points per game respectively, but a score line of 13.13 (91) to 10.10 (70) shows neither side got anywhere near that.

The Crows boasted two multiple goal kickers, with Richard Douglas booting four and Rory Sloane three. Harry Taylor and his bag of five were the only multiples for Geelong on a night where defence won out.