The Crusaders and Blues were different teams, he said after the Blues took a 39-17 win at Eden Park on Sunday.
"If the Blues can use their power, be good at set piece they can slow the Crusaders down.
"But the Crusaders play fast well so it's whether they can handle the speed of the Crusaders or slow the game down," he said.
That had been something the Highlanders had been unable to do.
"I felt as though we were good in that first couple of minutes, did a couple of good things, and then it just went all wrong for us.
"We couldn't hold onto the ball. We had three knock-ons within the next 10 minutes giving them scrums, then giving them penalties on the back of those set-piece attacks that they had so then the game was easy for them in that first half," he said.
Lacking the size of the packs that the Blues and Crusaders, especially, enjoy, the Highlanders were always in an area of disadvantage in set-piece play, and it was a case of trying to find a way to limit the set pieces, he said.
When they did have set pieces they needed to be tough in holding up the scrum, or stopping the maul.
The lack of discipline, and the Highlanders' mistakes, had given the Blues everything they wanted from the game that meant the Highlanders couldn't play the game they wanted.
"For us to beat the Blues, the game has got to be fast, the ball has got to be in play up around 40 minutes. Today, the ball was in play for 25 minutes so, if you have got a power team, that is what you want.
"We don't have that power so we need to play fast, play with a lot of energy, tire the Blues out and try and get some parity that way," he said.
After his hat-trick try-scoring effort against the Chiefs, wing Jona Nareki was a danger man for the Highlanders, but he was well contained. He left the field with a hip pointer injury late in the first half. Brown was confident that with the Highlanders having the bye this week, Nareki should be ready for their next game.
"We were under so much pressure in that first half that we couldn't get anything going in our game and the Blues dominated that first half. They did a good job, but we gave them the possession and we gave them the penalties on the back of the possession so it made it a tough first half for us."