IRVING, Texas –Brandon Carr has preached the same story every single week this season.
"It's going to be a 60-minute battle" and "we have to take it one week at a time."
As cliché as it may seem, it actually sounds sincere coming from Carr. Every single week Carr is asked to contain the opposing team's best receiver. All the while he is expected to continue to be a leader for the secondary and mentor rookie Morris Claiborne.
So it makes sense that Carr only focuses on "one week at a time."
Carr has made a great impression as a smart and physical corner for the Cowboys. But coming into last Sunday's game against the Eagles, he had yet to do one of the things that a lot of people had expected of him: intercept a pass. That all changed in Philadelphia when Carr picked off Nick Foles and ran the ball back 48 yards for his first career touchdown.
Carr implied on Thursday that his performance against the Eagles might be a sign of things to come.
"My career in the NFL, I've always been like a second half of the season type of player," Carr said. "I stayed patient throughout the first half of the season, didn't try to press the issue on anything. I just knew once that time came, I had to make a play. It just so happened it was last week."
If Carr truly does believe himself to be a player that plays better in the second half of the season then it's a great sign for the Cowboys, especially considering Carr performed quite well in the first half.
The Cowboys' defense has been stout all season, but in last week's game they were able to get two turnovers and score off of both of them. Carr said he's hoping that there will be more of the same going forward.
"If last week's any indication of how the second half of the season will go, I'm fine with that," Carr said. "We're getting our hands on balls, we're playing with some vision now. Guys are trying to be ball hawks out there when the balls in the air."
Up next are the Cleveland Browns, whose quarterback, rookie Brandon Weeden, has already thrown 12 interceptions. If Weeden gives the Cowboys any opportunities to make plays, Carr says they will be ready.
"We see some things on film that we can kind of attack and take advantage of and that's what we're going to try to do."
