Belichick unaware Falcons won NFC title until after AFC Championship Game

Do not count Bill Belichick among those who watched the NFC Championship Game that preceded his AFC title game.

It took until the postgame press conference for the New England Patriots head coach to learn who he would be facing in Super Bowl LI.

The Atlanta Falcons won Sunday's first conference championship game by defeating the Green Bay Packers 44-21. Following that game, the Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17 to solidify the Super Bowl matchup.

"I didn't even know they won. We didn't see the first game," Belichick said when asked during the postgame presser to evaluate his next opponent.

Missing the NFC title game was completely by design.

"Yeah, we were focused on this game," Belichick said. "I mean that game, if we didn't win this game then that game didn't make any difference."