impersonation. >> al: a little helicopter. >> cris: it's a big thing for me, with the green bay packers receivers, is that greg jennings had always been in the pivotal slot receiver position. he got hurt and it forced other guys to play that role. randall cobb came in and learned that position. really studied some of the slot receivers around the league like a wes welker, and was able to come up and learn the way to play that. now we're seeing jermichael finley in the slot. we're seeing jennings in the slot. we're seeing cobb in the slot. that sort of versatility within this offense is really making a difference. >> al: the 49ers will be preparing for that versatility as they get ready for the divisional matchup next week. the punt fair caught by sherels at the 32 yard line with 19

seconds remaining in the game. peterson 99 yards so just give it to him here. >> cris: how many times have you said a back had 99 yards and you're going defensively we had a great night. we held him to half his average against us. >> al: so from the 32 yard line. on a night when christian ponder, who was playing very well down the stretch, was inactive. webb had to take over. they complete that one to michael jenkins. that will pad the stat sheet, but you watched the game, you know it's been all green bay. and spike it here and have one second left.

the crowd goes why delay our celebration? >> cris: that started about 15 minutes ago. ymca and some of the songs "roll out the barrel." they do all kinds of things here to get them dancing in the commercial breaks. >> al: so it will end here. not by the mayan calendar, but this game anyway. the pass will be caught and that's rudolph and he'll take it to the 15 and the green bay packers have won this wildcard playoff game. they head to candlestick park to meet the 49ers next saturday night. 24-10. green bay winning it.

rodgers, 23 of 33 for 274 and a touchdown. the defense gets the job done. next, the wendy's post-game report after these messages.

there you see the final. the packers move on to candlestick park to take on the 49ers next saturday. the season is over for minnesota. for what it may be worth, the packers played the 49ers here at lambeau week one and san francisco prevailed, 30-22. aaron rodgers tonight, 23 of 33, a touchdown. he's seldom intercepted. he was not picked off tonight. he threw for 274 yards. of those 23 completions, ten different receivers. charles woodson returned from a long stretch on the sidelines with an injury to contribute defensively. and those two, woodson and rodgers, are on the field with michele tafoya. >> michele: well, aaron, last week, you lost in minnesota. losing the bye week in the process. but how might this game act as a

springboard for you guys as you head the rest of the way. >> i'm not sure. our defense played at a championship level, which you have to have in the postseason. offensively, we've got some stuff to work on. we doubled in the first half, beginning of the second half to make ate three-score game. but we've got to help the defense out more. close a team out. tough test next week, back in san francisco. we'll be excited about that, hopefully get healthy in the next couple days and get ready for the game. >> you hit ten different targets tonight and you have all receivers back healthy. where do you need to work? what needs to improve? >> you know, we had some guys go down tonight. hopefully, we'll get everybody back next week. they're a good defense. but we kind of cut it off there in the third quarter. couldn't get anything going. got to put a team away, especially at home like that. >> michele: as you said, you head to san francisco. they beat you here in the opener. what kind of different packers team will they see in the playoffs? >> they're different as well. colin's been playing really well for them. they're a great defense.

very talented offense as well. it's going to be a tough challenge for us. we've got to get healthy. it's a different team. we've had some new guys come in. dujuan is running the ball for us really well. we've got our guys back. we've got to get ready for a big test. >> michele: congratulations on the win, aaron. >> thanks a lot. >> turning to charles woodson, after nine weeks out, you came back in and said wow, i've got to see how this impact feels. how did you come out of this one? >> i felt good. i thought i moved around well. the main thing was to come out and help this team get a big win. that's the first playoff game for us this year and we want to continue to ride. >> michele: aaron rodgers just said you played at a championship level. you held adrian peterson to under 100. 99 yards total for a.p. what was the difference? >> you know what? the energy level was just at an all time high, i think. and this week, like last week, we buzzed around. but this week, we made the tackles and we didn't allow him to get through the line of

scrimmage and get yards after first contact. and we just kept putting that heat on him. and that was the difference. >> michele: so where do you see the defense right now as you get ready to head to san francisco? >> we got to get better. >> michele: congratulations on the win. thanks, the defense held adrian peterson who didn't have much help around him. held peterson to 99 yards on 22 carries. we bring in tony dungy now. what was the key for the packers tonight? >> well, bob, i think it was charles woodson. he came back and reminded me of our 2006 team in indianapolis. we had lost bob sanders. we weren't playing great defense. bob came back for the playoffs and everybody else played better. and i think that's what you saw tonight. charles woodson talked about guys flying around, energy, peterson wasn't breaking tackles. i think this is a good sign for green bay as ty move forward, that charles woodson will give their defense that emotional lift they need. >> thanks very much.

wildcard weekend continues tomorrow with two more games. the colts are in baltimore, where they used to reside. now they take on the ravens at 1:00 p.m. on cbs. then a matchup featuring two rookie quarterbacks as rg3 and the redskins host russell wilson and the seahawks at 4:30 p.m. on fox. let's focus on the second game. i sent you on your way by saying thank you, but there's more to ask you about. that's the second game, the seahawks and the redskins. who do you give the edge to? >> that's going to be a great game, and i know a lot of people are going to give the edge to seattle because of their defense. but i really like where the washington redskins are right now. they're playing hot, they're playing confident. they're going to have the home crowd. seattle's got a long trip. i just think robert griffin iii is going to make some plays to win the game for washington. i picked against washington last week. i'm going to pick washington this week in a really, really great game. >> tony, this time, i'm saying thank you and i really mean it.

the winner of the seahawks/redskins game, by the way, travels to atlanta next week. now a programming reminder. tune into pro football talk monday at 5:00 p.m. and every weekday on the nbc sports network. and you can also catch the dan patrick show weekdays from 9:00 a.m. till noon each day. the packers 24, the vikings 10. al and cris will wrap it up after this. what'd you get? louis is savin' a few bucks. same here... wendy's. mm-mm-mm! so not the same. goin' in! saving doesn't mean settling. introducing wendy's new right price, right size menu... loaded with big tastes you can't get anywhere else. starting at 99 cents. enjoying what you eat- and what you pay. that's wendy's way. now that's better. write yourself an inspirational note and put it somewhere you'll see it each morning.

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ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. so the minnesota vikings are done. good season for them, coming off a three-win year to get to the playoffs. green bay moves on. they go to candlestick next week in san francisco. what do you think? >> cris: it's just going to be a terrific ball game. so much different and so much riding on colin kaepernick now. we know the way they can play defensively.

looks like they'll probably get justin smith back for the game, who is going to make a huge difference there. but a great matchup and now we're down to the big dogs here. there are no more soft spots around if you're going to make it to the super bowl. >> al: 49ers had the bye week which green bay would have had, had they beaten minnesota last week. that's history. the other game we know next weekend will be houston at new england. they met on a monday night about a month ago. texans were saying it was the biggest game in the history of their franchise. this is now the biggest game in the history of their franchise. >> cris: that blow-out set houston back and took them a while to recover from that. you wonder, going in now, do you play the same sort of game, because i don't know if it matters when you play tom brady, what sort of game you play. but brady was too much for them that night. >> al: seven years of sunday night football on nbc. four of them with my partner here, cris collinsworth. we work with the greatest people

in the business. they are terrific. we go for five months a year. it's a pleasure and an honor to work with the folks who have brought you sunday night football all three the 2012 season. here they are. >> number 18, peyton manning. >> and that is caught by thomas. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com captions paid for by nbc-universal television

brady will throw to the left side for the touchdown. aaron hernandez. and here they go, right off the bat, they're going to run it into the end zone. danny woodhead takes it in. it's caught by crabtree. he's inside the 20, the 10, touchdown san francisco. akers kicks it and then it is picked up and run back by sherman and richard sherman is out in front. and richard sherman to the goal. and it is caught, anthony mccoy. he keeps it. and scores to give washington the lead. three minutes left, pressure is on. and intercepted by rob jackson.

>> tony romo simply pulled. >> the washington redskins into the playoffs riding a seven-game winning streak. ♪

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save more. save easier. saving more, starts now. just for u on the safeway app. is back and enough of it could make for sloppy roadways. the question now, will it stick around all weekend.

and a bay area lawmaker who is pushing for stricter gun control gets death threats. what we know about the threats and how the lawmaker is handling them. rumors swirl that the nhl lockout could soon be over. that is coming up. nbc bay area news starts now. we begin with a familiar story this time of year, the return of wet weather. here is what it looked like as the rain was falling this evening. it is slow going for drivers across the bay area. on your left a look at 680 and on your right 880 in oakland. there have been reports of water pooling on the roadways and highways. let's bring in rob who is

tracking this latest round of wet and dare i say cold weather, too. >> it was fairly cold this morning and cold during the day. you are seeing the rain in san francisco over towards oakland. between pleasantton into free mont and a few more showers leaving san jose. you can see the area of low pressure rotating off the coast line and tonight rain off and on at times. decreasing the scattered showers. tonight chilly. 30s and 40s. coming up in the full forecast we'll let you know what it means for sunday afternoon. the rest of your weekend forecast a few minutes from now. state senator wants to close a loop hole that makes automatic weapons legal to own in california. it is a position that is generating debate and racist

threats against him. how the senator is responding and what we know about those threats so far. >> reporter: this is not the first time that senator ye has been the subject of threats. two years ago he disagreed with rush limbaugh and received threats against his life. now he says the subject at the issue of the most recent threats is gun control in the wake of the massacre at sandy hook he reintroduced the bill. since then he says he has received dozens of messages on twitter and on a facebook page and in the real mail telling him to, quote, go back to china and one letter wished him a quick death. >> when you get death threats and you get threats about we are

going to send you back where you came from even though i have been here for a good 60 some odd years. it is unnerving but something that you have to kind of live with if you are going to deal with these kinds of issues and take the position that you do. >> reporter: now ye's office says the more threatening messages have been turned over to the sergeant at arms. as for his bill it did not pass last year. this time he says he think the climate for gun control has changed and he is optimistic that it will pass this time. he expects a full vote in the state senate in the next two months. aurora, colorado again making headlines for a deadly multiple shooting. police were called to a townhouse there early this morning. they say a man barricaded himself inside and then fired at

officers. they stormed the house and found four people dead including the gunman. police don't have a motive but they say the four people did know each other. thet shooting happened just miles from the theater where a gunman shot 12 people last summer. new details in a new year's evet shooting at a sacramento bar. police arrested a married man and woman who they say was connected with the shooting. sacramento police say 36-year-old amber schultz instigated the fight and her husband was involved in the fight which led to the gun fire by another man. hundreds of people gathered today to remember 19-year-old alyssa byrne who died in lake tahoe over the new year's holiday. the restaurant hosted a fundraiser in memory of the

former student athlete. investigators found byrne's body along the road where they expect she died while walking back to her hotel. police say they do not suspect foul play. friends of the family say they are devastated by the loss of their only daughter. >> they are courageous in my opinion. nobody can understand what you are going through with the loss of a sibling or a child. >> alyssa byrne's brother worked at the restaurant. the family asked that the donations be made in her name. a 13-year-old tourist viz tding san francisco from another country was hit by a cab last night. she was rushed to san francisco general hospital with life threatening injuries. and police are offering a

$10,000 reward for help solving a serious hit-and-run accident from christmas eve. a man is in critical condition after he was hit in a cross walk by a drag racing car that looks like this. it is a black two-door honda civic. it is possible that the car has damage to the front passenger side because of the collision. witnesses say two cars were drag racing the night before christmas when one of them hit that man in the cross walk. police say both drivers took off without stopping. police were able to track one of them down and interviewed them on christmas day. that person was then released. anyone with information should call vallejo p.d. two sides of the national hockey league lockout are talking to each other. we wonder if it is enough to

salvage the season. >> reporter: fans are just aching for hockey so they are watching as the two sides meet. that is going on right now. the national hockey league and the players' union are discussing the issues surrounding the lockout. sources tell us there is cautious optimism that a deal is within reach and soon. some sticking points, salary caps, and the length of contract. fans say they understand this is the business side of the sport they love but they want to see hockey return for what is left for the season which could mean 48 games. >> waiting for like three months now. i have heard them talking about the talks but they have been saying that for the past two months. i really hope it is true. >> reporter: restaurants and bars have been hurting as a result of the lockout so you

better believe managers are paying very close attention to the talks. some say they have lost as much as 50% of their business so far this season. live in san jose, nbc bay area news. if you are driving in san francisco this weekend make sure you pack a little extra change. tomorrow no more free parking meters on sunday. most meters will operate from noon until 6:00 in the evening. if you forget you get a warning for the next three weekends and then full enforcement at the end of the month. and it wasn't raining where i live but as soon as i headed to work i caught it. >> we are giving free water. you can see it on the radar on the east bay. you are starting to see some of that rain there and the rain

heading on to livermore. we are seeing bands of rain showers wrapping around an area of low pressure. overnight tonight that dives towards central california. it will take a lot of the rain with it. for tomorrow morning plan on showers shifting into south bay. by the afternoon we are starting to clear out. gusty winds will help to clear out our skies. we are looking at highs in the upper 40s to mid 50s tomorrow. the forecast does look drier. keeping an eye on saturday, 49ers taking on the packers. looks chilly but not lambeau field chilly. >> thanks. we want to thank you for joining us for this special edition of nbc bay area news. x finity sports sunday is coming up next and we'll see you