Postgame comments from Carolina cornerback Josh Norman after the Panthers’ 24-17 win Sunday over the Texans.

Opening statement:
“First and foremost I want to thank God for allowing me to make it through the game. Shoot, that was a tough one right there. Got a great gameplan. Thanks, coaches. Got up, ate a hearty meal, Thanks, mom. Ended up coming out and playing four quarters all out intensity. Thanks, defense. Most importantly we got the win, thank you God, cause I’m telling you, that was an intense game, man. All the way through.”

How do you think you did your matchup with DeAndre Hopkins?
“You saw it. It was awesome. It was great to go up against a guy like that and compete at a high level. Hats off to him for what he was able to do. I had a task and a challenge to come in and contain him. He had [two touchdowns last week] and I wanted to be able to make sure that didn’t happen this week. I did the best to hold him. He’s a good athlete and he’s a good player. Best of luck and wishes to him.”

Did you like that challenge of going against him?
“I missed a couple. One of them I jumped up and, whatever. I threw my hands up and was like, ‘Gosh.’ They looked at him a couple more times. He got some balls inside on the slot. He was able to move around, but that’s just the mindset and mentality of our defense and help the next man out. Big kudos to those guys for being able to get that pass rush and get that linebacker playing downhill and secondary breaking on the ball.”

What’d you say to Hopkins after the game?
“That’s confidential. He said, ‘You’re a good player, continue to go out and ball out every week. Get your shot and your time is coming and you’re about to see a big day.’ I said, ‘You are too, keep balling and doing your thing.'”

What’d you think of Cam Newton’s flip for a touchdown?
“Superman, huh? (laughs) He went up and over and almost landed on his feet. That’s our guy, man. You can see he can do things like that and congrats. You see what they gave him and that was awesome he could do that for us and get over the top and give us an edge. He played a good game.”

What does it say about the defense to perform like that without Luke Kuechly?
“He is the best linebacker in the game. The defense is next man up. A.J. Klein played a hell of a game. He deserved a game ball because he made that key interception, made a big play, coming downhill and being that force in the middle that we need since Luke couldn’t play. Glad that we were able to have him on the team. Defensive effort as a whole was awesome.”

What’d you see on A.J.’s interception?
“He was in the middle and he read it and I was over the top and saw it. I said, ‘Hold onto it, hold onto it’ and he did. He went down to the ground, and he started running. I was looking for a blocker, but I was thinking in my head “Hmm, maybe he could have pitched that to me.’ Then I said let me go and block somebody. That was a good job by A.J. He stepped in and had a phenomenal game.”

What were the final 17 seconds of the game like?
“That was long as all get out. That was probably the longest part of the game. We were making sure they didn’t score and to keep them out of the end zone and doing what the coaches asked us to do and we did that to a T.”