The Canaries smacked the post twice with striker Rob Earnshaw wasteful with a number of chances, but David Healy's 41st-minute penalty settled the game in Leeds' favour following a challenge by Lee Croft on Steve Stone.
Norwich boss Nigel Worthington later insisted his team had deserved a result on the strength of their display, but Blackwell angrily rejected negative assessments of their performance.
The Leeds boss said in the YEP: "You'd wonder with some of the comments I've heard whether we played at all on Saturday. They had chances, but we had four or five excellent chances – I don't see anyone mentioning those. I'm going to defend my players.
"I'm only worried about Leeds United and I think the players here deserve an immense amount of credit. They won't always get things right, but they will try."
Interview: Kevin Blackwell v Norwich 05/08/2006 >Courtesy of BBC Leeds Sport