GREEN BAY, Wis. – Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons have a complicated task ahead of them this week as the try to figure out the Packers’ defense.

They will no doubt look at the film from the NFC Championship Game in January, when the Falcons obliterated the Packers’ shaky defense. And then they’ll watch Sunday’s tape and see something completely different -- a unit that shut down another NFC contender, the Seattle Seahawks, in a 17-9 season-opening victory at Lambeau Field.

So what was the difference?

"Easy,” said Packers Pro Bowl safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. “That was the 2016 team. It's 2017. We all have a different identity. We all have a different mindset going into these ballgames. We've all played in big-time games. We look forward to going in and playing against Atlanta in their opening at the dome.”

Green Bay will need another performance like Sunday's to have success in Atlanta.

The Packers held Russell Wilson & Co. out of the end zone all afternoon. It seemed the Seahawks barely had the ball, because they couldn’t get first downs; they had only 12 first downs all game and had possession for only 20 minutes, 47 seconds. Wilson totaled just 158 yards. And he was sacked three times -- 1.5 of those by defensive tackle Mike Daniels, whose dominant performance included a strip sack that set up the Packers’ first score early in the second quarter.

“This really started with our defense,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “I thought our defense played at an extremely high level. You hold an offense to nine points in today’s NFL and that speaks volumes. I thought they were playing at a real high level coming out of the preseason, so very impressed with our defense. Started at the line of scrimmage. We were in the backfield a bunch. Got the big plays.”

Wilson was under duress most of the game. He was pressured on 44 percent of his dropbacks, according to ESPN Stats & Information data, and he completed just six passes for 57 yards when pressured.

Nick Perry accounted for half of the Packers' three sacks on Sunday against Russell Wilson and the Seahawks. Dylan Buell/Getty Images

“If our defense plays like that, we’re going to be tough to beat,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “They were fantastic.”

If defensive coordinator Dom Capers’ unit can replicate that effort against the likes of Ryan and Julio Jones, perhaps the offseason-long bad-mouthing of the Packers’ defense will cease -- or at least lessen.

“When don’t we get bad-mouthed?” Daniels said. “We always get bad-mouthed. It’s nothing new.”

“We don’t care what people think," he added. "Everybody has an opinion. You want to doubt us; you’re either with us or you’re going to throw us under the bus when things don’t go right. We really don’t care what people say.”

This incarnation of the Packers’ defense featured some new faces, but most of the key contributors were there on that January day in Atlanta. Cornerback Davon House was the only starter on Sunday who wasn’t with the Packers last season. One of other new additions, outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, left the opener with a first-half concussion. The Packers’ top two draft picks, cornerback Kevin King and safety Josh Jones, barely played other than on special teams.

Indeed, this was Daniels, Nick Perry and Clay Matthews owning the line of scrimmage. It was Morgan Burnett and Clinton-Dix providing run support and coverage assistance for House, Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins.

Yet the Falcons should see something significantly different from what they remember from January.

“[They will see] that we're physical,” Clinton-Dix said. “We're a fast-pursuing defense, and we're only going to get better.”