Heading into the weekend, Bill Belichick probably didn't expect to be spending his Monday press conference after the AFC title game talking about tablets and technology. The Patriots' head coach probably hoped to be reciting some version of "We're onto Carolina (in Santa Clara, of course)."

But here we are -- the Patriots just barely lost to the Broncos and Belichick spent a portion of his press conference on Monday explaining the Patriots' Microsoft Surface tablet malfunctions, which occurred during the first half of the AFC Championship on Sunday. According to CBS Sports sideline reporter Evan Washburn, the malfunctions affected the Patriots while the Broncos drove down the field for their second touchdown of the first half.

Across the field, the Broncos weren't required to shut down their tablets while the Patriots were flying blind and officials worked to fix the problem.

But, a day after the loss, Belichick wasn't willing to blame the tablet malfunctions. With that being said, he did call the technological issues "a pretty common problem," which isn't the best statement to hear considering the tablets are supposed to make the lives of coaches and players easier.

"It is what it is," Belichick said, via MassLive. "It's a pretty common problem. We have ways of working through it. There's really nothing you can do. It's not like the headsets where the other sides are really affected. You deal with what you deal with.

Officials work to fix New England's tablet problems. (Twitter: @seankjensen)

"We have had it at home, we have had it on the road, other teams have had it, it's a fairly common problem that didn't affect the outcome of the game --- in no way. That's just part of it. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't."

In fact, the Patriots sometimes stick with the old-school method of taking photographs and printing them out. Belichick told reporters that they use the photos as a "backup," calling them "more dependable" than the tablets. 

But Microsoft defended their product. According to the company, the problem was related to the network -- not the tablets.

"Our team on the field has confirmed the issue was not related to the tablets themselves but rather an issue with the network," Microsoft said in a statement, per MassLive. "We worked with our partners who manage the network to ensure the issue was resolved quickly."

The Patriots' connectivity was restored with more than five minutes remaining in the first half. So, the unusable tablets had nothing to do with their failure to score touchdowns in the fourth quarter and that crucial two-point conversion in the final seconds of the game. Though, if Tom Brady took a peak at a tablet after the game, he might've realized just how open Rob Gronkowski was on that two-point try.