GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Green Bay Packers looked to be in full command leading the Atlanta Falcons 31-7 at halftime and owning a yardage edge of 296-161 and an incredible first-down edge of 22-9.
The second half was a different story. Although the Packers held on to win, they were outscored 30-10 after the break and outgained 304 yards to 206.
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Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones caught 11 passes for 259 yards — the most ever surrendered to a receiver by the Packers — and a touchdown. He opened up the second half by catching a 79-yard pass. Jones put up those gaudy numbers despite missing a big chunk of the fourth quarter with a hip injury.
Packers linebacker Clay Matthews knew that his unit didn't perform up to snuff after halftime, so he beat a veteran beat writer to the snap before the reporter even finished asking a question.
"And now it’s Doomsday," Matthews said dramatically. "Write it. Put it in there so we have something to talk about. So we can say, ‘I told you so.’ Write it.
"Now ... what was your question?"
It's as playful as Matthews usually gets. There was no smile but he was kidding.
Then the question was asked: Does winning 43-37, especially with the second-half performance, temper how the Packers feel about their defense?
Turning a bit testy, Matthews got (even more) serious about where his unit is at.
"We’ve got all the pieces we need to make a run at [a Super Bowl]," Matthews said. "It’s not a setback, but it’s a learning opportunity to see where we need to get better.
"I said on the field, ‘We made [Falcons quarterback] Matt Ryan look like Matty Ice again out there during his MVP run.’ He was fantastic tonight. More power to him, but a lot of that was our doing. So we’ve got to get better. We will."

Perhaps the worst moment for the Packers' defense was allowing the Falcons — with Jones on the sideline — to march nine plays and 66 yards in just over two minutes to make it a one-score game on the front side of the two-minute warning.
Asked if that was the defense's low point, Matthews remained defiant. "What drive was that? I don't remember that," he said.
But Matthews wasn't trying to run from what the defense did or didn't do. He actually put it in good perspective.
"We gave up a lot on that first drive and otherwise not that much in the first half," he said. "But to come out and finish like that was poor on our part, defensively speaking."
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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm