The Crows started nervously, conceding five of the first six goals in a lop-sided opening quarter, before fighting their way back into the contest with a spirited second term and taking the lead with three unanswered goals to start the third.
But their fleeting stint in front lasted all of four minutes as Port rammed home the last five majors of the period to lead by 30 points at the final change, which they blew out significantly against Sanderson's wilting charges.
"Only two goals were scored by Port from stoppages, the rest were scored from (Adelaide) turnovers," Sanderson said.
"A lot of them were just fundamental skill errors.
"At times we just had easy possessions (that) went straight to Port.
"They certainly jumped us ... we couldn't get our hands on the footy and when we did, we kicked it straight back to them.
"They certainly punished us on the scoreboard by our fundamental skill errors.
"In the end we had too many passengers - too many guys didn't contribute."
Sanderson was disappointed with the way the Crows responded to stealing the momentum and the lead midway through the third term, Port simply powering home from that point on.
It was a similar story in Round 1 against Geelong at Skilled Stadium when Adelaide worked their way into a winning position, claimed the lead, then rolled over for a 38-point loss.
Sanderson wants to buck the trend pronto, but firstly has to gauge why the players have allowed it to happen, twice in as many games.
"It's two weeks in a row where we've hit the front, but from that moment it's been downhill," Sanderson said.
"We hit the front but after that moment, our contest possessions we were minus 21 and tackles in the fourth quarter were minus 13.
"We have to ask ourselves 'when you hit the front, what changes?'.
"Maybe we spent all our petrol tickets chasing that bad start and it was almost a relief (that) we're back in front.
"A 55-point loss is unacceptable in a Showdown, especially when you hit the front in the game.
"We have to ask ourselves some serious questions."