But goals late in each half from Brighton saw the game finish 4-2, much to the annoyance of the Latics boss.
He said: "We made a tremendous start to the game.
"We scored with our first shot without Brighton hardly touching the ball, and every time we went forward in the first half we looked like scoring.
"While we were terrific then, unfortunately from my point of view, we weren't
terrific in the second half.
"We were never in any danger of losing the game but I was disappointed with a lot of the aspects of our play.
"At 4-0, we took our foot off the pedal and were coasting, although credit to Brighton and their fans who kept going.
"In the grand scheme of things, it was a great result, but we set our standards high and we didn't perform as we can do after half-time.
"As good as we were for the first half hour or so, I thought we were below average after that.
"I had a right go at them in the dressing room afterwards despite us winning because I always want us to do better."
But for all his gnashing of teeth at conceding two goals, Jewell was pleased to pick up a sixth win in seven games and stay top of the table.
Rivals Sunderland and Ipswich both won, leaving Jewell to predict a battle right down to the final game of the season for who claims automatic promotion.
He said: "I've had a moan about their goals but there are still plenty of positives.
"The first-half performance was as good as anyone has probably seen here for a while, and I think Brighton were flattered they were only 4-0 down.
We've probably not been as clinical as that for a long while – some of our football and counter attacking was outstanding.
"We cut them open at will early on and at 4-0, I thought 'let's go on and get a couple more' because goal difference might be important.
"That didn't happen, although give credit to Brighton for getting back into the game.
"It's a strange ground to play at, and at times you could almost hear a pin drop.
"We told the players beforehand they had to roll their sleeves up and really battle.
"It was nice Jimmy and Gary scored while Jason was outstanding in the first half and I was pleased to see him score.
"Lee got his 11th goal of the season and someone has told me that he has been called into the Scotland squad.
"I would like someone from Scotland to tell me, because I hadn't heard officially."
McCulloch has been named in the squad for the World Cup qualifier against Italy in Milan on March 26, while Graham Kavanagh is in the Republic of Ireland party to meet Israel and China.
Latics' early goal burst last night was more remarkable as they only arrived 45 minutes before kick-off.
An accident on the dual carriageway between London and Brighton – the team had stayed overnight near Gatwick – delayed the coach by an hour.
Jewell had to phone the team over to Latics secretary Stuart Hayton who was already at the ground, so he could hand the team sheet to referee Andy D'Urso on time.