Aussie punter's Super Bowl dream dashed
Jan 23, 2017 - 4:44 AM Australian punter Jordan Berry and his Pittsburgh Steelers have had their Super Bowl hopes snuffed out by a dominant Tom Brady-led New England Patriots.The Patriots jumped on the Steelers early and won Sunday's AFC Championship game 36-17 to set up a Super Bowl clash on February 5 against the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons earned their place with a thumping 44-21 win in Atlanta against the Green Bay Packers for the NFC Championship.
Berry was hoping to complete his journey from working the graveyard shift at a Melbourne McDonald's just two years ago to playing in the NFL title game, but with quarterback Brady guiding the Patriots the Steelers always trailed.
The 25-year-old from Essendon had a solid game for the Steelers at the Patriots' Gillette Stadium, averaging 33.5 yards a punt with two of his four punts pinning the Patriots inside the 20-yard line.
"I tip my hat to the Patriots," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.
"They are the champions of the AFC and rightfully so.
"Not a lot went our way tonight."
The Patriots led 10-0 in the first quarter and were up 33-9 late in the fourth before the Steelers scored a touchdown to tighten the score.
Brady passed for three touchdowns and 384 yards.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had 314 passing yards, but could only connect for one touchdown and had an interception.
Patriots' coach Bill Belichick paid tribute to his team after they overcame a tumultuous season which included a four-game suspension for Brady for the "Deflategate" scandal and a season-ending back injury to tight end Rob Gronkowski.
"You have to give a lot of credit to the players and the job they have done all year," the coach said.
"They come in and grind it out, spend hours and hours preparing and then go out there and lay it on the line every week.
"It's a good group of men."
The Patriots-Falcons Super Bowl will be a battle between one of the NFL's most historically successful teams against one of its most dismal.
The Patriots will be playing in a record ninth Super Bowl, winning four since 2001, while the Falcons have never won the title and their only appearance in 51 seasons was a 34-19 loss to the Denver Broncos in 1999.
The Packers entered the game on an eight-game win streak, but Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and wide-receiver Julio Jones could not be contained.
Ryan had 392 passing yards and four touchdowns while Jones had nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns.
Source: AAP
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