Carr says he'll come back stronger after defending Calvin Johnson
DETROIT — Calvin Johnson did whatever he wanted Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. The NFL's best wide receiver was so good that he nearly set an NFL record for receiving yards.
Johnson led Detroit with 14 catches for 329 yards — eight shy of breaking Flipper Anderson's NFL record — and a touchdown in a 31-30 defeat of the Cowboys.
Defending the 6-5, 236-pounder most of the day was Brandon Carr.
"He had a good game," Carr said. "I battled with him. He made some plays. It was a big task, and I knew that coming into this game. But I wasn't going to shy away from it. And if I could do it all over again, I wouldn't shy away from it again.
"I'm the one out there going through it and I'm going to try to check this guy and give it my best shot."
Johnson hauled in passes of 87, 54, 29, 26, 22, 21 and 18 yards throughout the four quarters. Had he not been on the field, the Cowboys would likely be heading home with a victory.
But the player they call "Megatron" was and former Highland Park High School standout quarterback Matthew Stafford was throwing to him often.
Stafford targeted Johnson 16 times with three coming in the first quarter, five in the second, two in the third and six in the fourth.
Carr, who performed well the last two weeks while shadowing Pierre Garcon and DeSean Jackson, says the experience of trying to slow Johnson will help him come back stronger next week.
"We just didn't adjust quick enough to take him out of the game, and they rolled him all the way to victory," Carr said. "I tried to go out there and battle like I said I would.
"Lick my wounds, so to speak, and get ready for next week, because I'll be back."
