Lions 26, Texans 23
Q. (Off microphone)
CARLTON DAVIS: Finally, finally, man. It was a long time coming, but you know, we made the plays we were supposed to make to stay in the game and came up with a big play.
Q. Can you talk about that? Collectively in the second half four punts, two picks, and a missed field goal.
CARLTON DAVIS: Halftime A.G. came up to us, and he had a heartfelt message for us to just play our game and go out there and just put it all on the line. At that point we're losing the game, and there is nothing else to do but to try win it. You're already losing. Give it all you got.
That's what we did. 11 guys went out there and did their jobs.
Q. The results of those drives aside, how good does it feel for you to walk away tonight and say you got two picks?
CARLTON DAVIS: It feels (expletive) good. Great because it was still a close game. Whether you win or lose that game kind of depends on how you feel after the game. Like if we lose, it's like, Oh, I got two picks, but (expletive), you know, we lost.
You win, it's like, Let's go. You know, it's a little bit more exciting. I'm happy we got the W, and I'm happy we came together as a team and got the win.
Q. Four or five on the road and against some good teams. How much confidence do you guys have going through this stretch?
CARLTON DAVIS: Honestly it's letting us know a lot about ourselves as a team, being able to go on the road against tough opponents, like the best opponents in my opinion in the league right now, and getting the W out at their home stadium is huge for us. It's a huge confidence boost.
You know, nevertheless we still have to go back to work and continue this streak and continue to get better every day.
Q. Coming out in the second half, can you describe the way you felt the energy change between those two quarters?
CARLTON DAVIS: I'm never paying too much attention to the crowd. I'm not going with the flow. I'm trying to just focus on my job. Honestly I don't even hear them, if I'm being honest with you, but it was loud when we first got out there.
It was a good crowd. When they were up, they were loud. In the second half make some plays, and it's kind of going down. Like I said, I'm not paying too much attention to it. I'm just trying to get a W.
Q. You said you learned something about yourself in games like this. Five turnovers by the offense. Coming out in the second half, holding them to 23 points, what did you learn about that defense today?
CARLTON DAVIS: Grit. That's it. I have nothing else to say. Grit. You look up the meaning of that word, and it will tell you everything else. Just grit. That's all we're made of, just grit.
Q. You are 5 for 5 in primetime this year. Do you get butterflies when you know the whole country is watching?
CARLTON DAVIS: No, not really. We've kind of been here before, especially me. This is my seventh year in the league, so I done played at the highest of the levels. It can't get no higher than that.
Honestly I just play my game. It's a good time to have a good performance, but at the same time, man, we might have another big game next week or in two weeks. So just keep it copacetic.
Q. What were your thoughts when Jake was coming onto that field for the 52-yarder?
CARLTON DAVIS: I was just holding my breath, like Please, please, please. They are a good team. You don't want to give them too much chances to get back in the game, and he iced the game for us. He did his job, and I'm so happy for him.
Q. You maybe described it already. Alex said there was a play of the game that you might not win without that one in the second half. Can you just walk me through that, and how important do you think that was to sort of get everyone's confidence?
CARLTON DAVIS: Honestly going into halftime, like I said, we had a prep talk, but for me personally last year I played in this stadium when I was with the Bucs, and I had a terrible game. It was probably one of the worst games I've ever had my any life here.
So just coming back here one year later, I think it was like the same timeframe last year I gave up a winning touchdown, and that was just heavy on my heart. I wanted to get payback.
Honestly it's never personal for me, but I did feel that on my heart. When we was losing, I just told myself, like, Bro, we got to make a play. I'm not going out sad to these guys twice. They're a great team, well-coached guys, but at the same time we are too.
The emotional state just kind of took over, and I was, like, I'm making a play regardless. I couldn't leave this stadium twice two years in a row not being able to say I'm a winner and not being able to overcome this team.
Like I said, they're a good team, but at the same time the competitor in me just needed it. I needed to show them because it's not about stats or whatever. Honestly for me at the end of the day it's about respect, and I want to earn the respect of every team who I play against. Last year I didn't do that.
Last year they could go into the season -- or they may have into this game thinking, Well, we can get them again. They had a little bit of success earlier, but like I said, for me personally I had a personal vendetta just to show them, just to get my respect back. That's what it's all about.
Coming out of halftime I had to do something. I was, like, I'm about to just let them know.
Q. Was that the veteran savvy today?
CARLTON DAVIS: I definitely did. If you watch film, I jump out all the time. If you watch the film, I'm in good position on every out. I know this team. They like to run out, run out and then, you know, go double move.
When they ran the two outside, I didn't play it too hard, and they was completing it. I know coming out of halftime that they were going to go back to that because they're a team who love to repeat successful plays.
When they went back to it, they gave me the set that I was looking for and we was in the right call, I knew I would jump it. They had success earlier.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports