The Demons won 12.10 (82) to 11.5 (71) in a match played in both brilliant sunshine and driving rain, with Liam Jurrah booting five decisive goals.
The Lions had opened up a 25-point lead by quarter-time after placing the Demons' backline under fire with multiple targets and two goals from Luke Power.
The visitors heavily out-tackled the Demons, which made it hard for them to score even though they ventured inside 50 two more times.
In the second, the Demons looked more functional up forward and managed five goals to the Lions' two, with Jurrah getting away from Joel Patfull to kick three.
Their determination also rose dramatically with a huge swing in the tackle count. In the second term alone, the Demons laid 27 to nine tackles; a vast improvement from the first where they trailed 19 to six.
Their reward was a half time deficit of six points, and it took less than a minute for them to break even in the third when Jurrah booted his fifth.
The quarter disintegrated into a hard slog with rain slowing up play for the first 20 minutes, which prompted both sides to deploy their substitutes late in the term.
The Lions got two goals on the board in the opening six minutes but there was long periods where majors went missing before Jack Grimes broke the deadlock at the 12-minute mark.
Colin Sylvia, Jamie Bennell and Lynden Dunn rounded out the term with more straight shooting, which saw the Demons take a 16-point lead into the final stanza.
In a low-scoring final term, Power's fourth came early before Tom Rockliff goaled with just over two minutes remaining, but the Demons' defence - led by Jared Rivers - withstood the late charge before Jurrah nailed the sealer.
What it means
The Lions might not have got the points but they gave a much better showing than they did against the Western Bulldogs. After appearing one dimensional in attack in round two, they had more options this week and kept the Demons' defenders guessing.
Dream Team highlight
Tom Rockliff's 29 possessions saw him rack up 134 points while Mitch Clark's work around the ground gifted him 125. While not in the Lions' highest scorers, Jared Polec registered a respectable 67 on debut.
Key match-ups
Andrew Raines was reinvented over the summer as a run-with player and played his role to aplomb against the Demons. He gave Aaron Davey very little room - even following him to the bench throughout the afternoon - and kept him goalless.
New faces
Highly-rated draftee Jared Polec slotted in well on debut. He bolted out of the blocks with 11 touches in the first quarter and impressed when he put his body on the line against Rohan Bail and forced a turnover. He ended with 18 touches after expectedly fading as the game wore on.
Next four: The fixture ahead
Brisbane Lions: Bye, St Kilda (Gabba), Richmond (MCG), Gold Coast (Gabba)
What the coach said
Michael Voss
"We put in the effort and that's what makes you crook in the guts. Last week we didn't and you walk away and probably don't feel as bad because you didn't deserve it but when you walk away from that game the second quarter was really important but apart from that I thought we did very well.
"Our pressure was right up there again and that's been benchmarked against some of the better teams in the competition so it's been a genuine strength of ours.
"But the fact is while there are other people that don't have expectations of ourselves we certainly do and we can't accept that."
Melbourne 1.1 6.3 11.7 12.10 (82)
Brisbane Lions 5.2 7.3 9.3 11.5 (71)
GOALS
Melbourne: Jurrah 5, Wonaeamirri, Gysberts, Grimes, Sylvia, Bennell, Dunn, Moloney
Brisbane Lions: Power 4, Banfield 2, Polkinghorne, Leuenberger, Redden, Clark, Rockliff
BEST
Melbourne: Jamar, Jurrah, Moloney, Gysberts, Sylvia, Jones, Frawley
Brisbane Lions: Clark, Power, Adcock, Banfield, Black, Raines, Polec
INJURIES
Melbourne: nil
Brisbane Lions: Clark (dislocated finger)
Reports: nil
Umpires: Schmitt, Chamberlain, Keating
Official crowd: 24, 380 at MCG
