patriots with the lead that they had. but patriot fans after back-to-back losses. just so atypical how they were losing those games. 14 point leads. to see the mistakes they were making. another one tonight in peshl teams as well. the old special teams coach himself bill belichick will go back to work on that. >> al: 13 times in the last 15 years they clinch a spot on that, but not the division crown yet. but if the giants beat miami tomorrow, not that they have a chance. but a situation vis-a-vis the jets so they'd clinch with a new york win or obviously with a win in any of the last three games where a jets loss. and brady will kneel down here. that will take us all the way to the wire. so brady 22 of 30 for 225 and a

pair of touchdowns. the guys who worked together for five years with a brief hug. and the new england patriots will go to 11-2 and would regain that number one seed at least for the moment in the american football conference. game officially over in four seconds. 27-6 the final. volkswagen post game report coming up next.

welcome to volkswagen passat post game report. >> and welcome back to houston where the final score tonight patriots 27, texans 6. and where, after toughing it out for most of the night, bob landed on the injury list. his voice listed day to day. liam mchugh to take you the rest of the way. the patriots clinch their seventh straight playoff berth with a victory over the texans. this week's game balls go to rob gronkowski. 86 yards and a touchdown. and jabaal sheard, two sacks and to forced fumble. both spoke with michele tafoya. >> you were injured two weeks ago, that knee. so this is your first action back.

a touchdown, a big 45-yard catch early in the game. what were you expecting of yourself tonight? >> i was expecting whatever the coaches called. that type of game plan like that. i knew i wasn't going to go all game. we did a great job executing as offense. the coach is making great plays out there. and the offense is coming together. but i give credit to our defense. our defense held them, what, six points was it? unbelievable job they did. holding those good receivers they got and just containing the quarterback, too. overall a great team win. >> how is the knee feeling after tonight? >> what's that? >> how is the knee feeling after tonight? >> it's feeling good. i rehabbed superhard to get myself out here and be with my teammates. when you're not with them, you miss them out on the field. and great to be back with them. i love these guys. and everyone works hard. >> ending a two-game win streak, what was that team's mind-set? >> just come out here and play football. play some physical football. come out here mentally and

physically prepared. we stauck together as a unit an get to get a win on the w side. >> let's turn to jabaal sheard. this team had six sacks tonight. why were you able to be so successful in your pass rush? >> everybody just did a good job of staying in their lanes, executing, the secondary played great tonight and gave us time to get there. >> again, stopping the losing streak, that was a big thing for this team, wasn't it? >> no question, no question. it feels good to win again and bounce back. and get that nasty taste out of your mouth. >> the one taste that might still be in your mouth, however, is the one that comes with a lot of players injured, which you had a lot of guys go down tonight. how are you able to fight through that? >> you know, just fight through it. guys got to step up and make plays. happy to have rob back, happy to getting guys back this week. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> send it to you, liam. >> let's take a look at the afc

playoff picture. a week ago the sky was falling in new england after a second straight loss. but now the patriots are back on top. cincinnati and denver both lost today and are both now relying on backup quarterbacks. as for the wildcard race, three teams at 8-5. pittsburgh on the outside looking in right now. but if the steelers, chiefs and jets were all to win out, it would actually be kansas city and pittsburgh who would own the tiebreakers for the two wild card positions. let's bring in tony dungy. how do you see this playing out now in the afc? >> well, really liam, a couple of big games next week. and i like where pittsburgh and kansas city are. pittsburgh's playing great offense. kansas city playing great defense. but pittsburgh hosting denver next week is going to be a huge game. and we'll have to see what the denver quarterback situation is all about. they're going to need to score more points going into pittsburgh than they got today. and that other drama is the afc

south. this houston team going to indianapolis. it's probably going to be winner take all. and again, both offenses struggling. the colts really need to get andrew luck back. that's what it looks like in indianapolis. >> all right, coach. let's bring things over to the nfc. carolina shut out the falcons. the packers ran all over dallas and are now a game up on the vikings in the north. but tony, with philly and washington stayed tied atop the nfc east and the giants with a potential win tomorrow, how do you see things shaking out in that division? >> that's where all the drama is in the nfc. i think it will come down to the last game of the year, philadelphia going to the giants. the winner of that game will win the division. and you have to like the giants playing at home with eli manning at quarterback. but the real situation there to me is seattle now in that five spot with their win today. and you have to think, if they

can remain there, whoever wins the nfc, seattle will be favored and could be setting themselves up for a nice little run. seattle's playing great football. >> coach, thanks so much. turning now to mike florio of pro football talk. the whole afc playoff race would be greatly impacted by andy dalton's injury. what's the latest you hear on how long he may be out? >> what we know is there's a fracture in the thumb. we know he won't play next week at san francisco. coach martin lewis said so after today's loss to pittsburgh. we'll know much more on monday, that's the day that dalton will meet with the specialist and there will be clarity as to how much time he'll be expected to miss. until then, until he's able to return, it will be a.j. mccarron at quarterback for the broncos -- no, for the cincinnati bengals. i got ahead of myself. broncos still have osweiler at quarterback. peyton manning could return to practice after today's loss to the raiders, coach gary kubiak said that manning could come back to practice.

he'll know more monday or tuesday. there's been no starter named for next weekend's game at pittsburgh. >> so a big week for both denver and cincinnati. mike, thanks so much. as for the situation here, final score, patriots 27, texans 6. al and cris are back to wrap things up right after this. ? maybe just head back to the dealership? don't you want to meet my family? yep, totally. it's practically yours, but we still need your signature. the volkswagen sign then drive event. zero due at signing, zero down, zero deposit, and zero first months payment on a new jetta and other select models. ♪ for everyone this season ♪ find thousands of rollbacks, like a 55" 4k smart tv for just $798.

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♪ hooked it just a little bit ♪ (window breaks, car alarm sounds) ♪ don't open that cellar door ♪ ♪ epic comeback starts right here ♪ lucky shot. ♪ mmm mmm mmm mm mmm mm mmmmm welcome back to the volkswagen passat post game report. >> oh, he loses the football! dwight freeney knocked it loose. the arizona cardinals come off huge defensively. >> he's looking. he's going deep for aguilar who catches it at the 5. touchdown. first nfl touchdown for aguilar. >> highlights from thursday night and today, sunday's game in philadelphia.

we've got arizona against philadelphia. cardinals red hot, 11 wins. here comes seattle. division not clinched yet. and philadelphia all of a sudden two wins in a row against two teams from the afc east tied right now with washington. the giants tomorrow night. pretty good scramble going down to the finish line. >> pretty good couple of weeks there for chip kelly to knock off these new england patriots. kind of a crazy game last week, then got lesean mccoy with all that going on. with what the arizona cardinals have on their schedule in front of them, they'd very much like to go get a win in philadelphia not to worry about green bay and seattle in the last two weeks. >> they've got a tough schedule and seattle's got a relatively easy one down the stretch. a lot to be determined three weeks to go. >> let's go. >> on to the city of brotherly love. we'll talk to from there, sunday night. cardinals against the eagles. here tonight it's new england.

they still have haven't lost three in a row since all the way back in 2002. a win tonight, go 11-2. final score 27-6. cris collinsworth along with michele tafoya, good night from houston, texas. nbc sports thanks you for watching this special presentation of the national football league. on his legendary quest jack went looking for a man.

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nbc bay area news starts now. >> pouring rain and booming thunder. even patches of hail. >> storms rolling over the bay area all day, flooding streets, causing power outages, and toppling trees. tonight, we are watching the weather as the storms begin to wind down. when all of this will be over. good evening. thank you for joining us. >> tonight, we are watching the tom closely. it touched all parts of the bay area. in the north bay, power lines and downed trees. it even knocked over a christmas tree in the center of town. over to danville we go. a creek overflowing roadways.

and in san jose, pouring rain. even patches of hail off and on through much of the day. this is just a taste of what happened and what is still going on tonight in some places. we have team coverage for you. we start with rob, who has a look at where the rain is right now. >> for the most part, it's moved on. and, yes, it is december outside. we had gusty winds up to 50 miles per hour. this occurring as the cold front raced through this morning. golden gate bridge, 40 miles per hour winds. san jose, 32. very gusty conditions at the airport this morning as this went racing by. transitioning to sunshine this afternoon. mid afternoon thunderstorms and now the skies beginning to clear, setting the stage for chilly temperatures tonight. the rain totals pretty good considering it didn't rain all that long. finally some of the valleys picking up half an inch, close to an inch there. in santa rosa, more than an inch

of rain. san jose, almost half an inch of rain. and the rain totals on the coast almost 3/4 of an inch of rain. good news out of this particular system. now we await the potential for some poppy frost. morning temperatures tomorrow, 30s and 40s. icy conditions could be coming up for the work week. we'll talk about the next chance of rain in the forecast in just a few minutes. >> you can keep track of the weather on your phone on our app. right now, a mudslide caused by the weather is blocking a road for drivers in san mateo county. this is happening on california 84 near woodside. it backed up traffic for quite a while. we're told the road is now back open. crews are finishing up the cleanup. heavy rain and slick roads are suspected of causing a lot of serious, even deadly accidents today. one person was taken to the hospital by ambulance after this accident on highway 280 in san jose. just miles away, there was

another wipeout, this one involving this white car. you can see it just flipped around on the freeway as oncoming traffic continues to come. a lot of rain on the freeways. no word on injuries in this case. in the east bay, a single car accident claimed the lives of two parents and seriously injured one of their two children that were in the back seat. police say the car may have hydro planed on the water and then rolled over. the children in the car, ages 5 and 6, were transported to the hospital. today, the rain slowed down drivers as they tried to navigate flooded roadways in. san jose, drivers had to drive through pools of water. there was more of the same along the peninsula, where cars had to make it through a foot of water at one burling game intersection. cleanup is underway tonight. check out this massive tree that fell on a home and car. the car smashed. scenes like this showed up in several bay area cities, including san francisco.

nbc bay area's christie smith is joining us live from the city. what kind of damage and what kind of cleanup are you seeing right now? >> well, terry, the rain stopped a while ago here in san francisco. but the cleanup is another story. neighbors say the rain was coming down sideways, flowing down the hills. sometime overnight, this big tree fell and stretched right over a car. >> on greenwich street tonight, crews were busy cutting up a tree that toppled over a car. in different parts of san francisco, crews worked to remove damage left from the rain and wind. tree limbs snapped. along franklin, overhead lines had to be repaired. at one corner, joanne brown walked into standing water to try and clear it. >> i couldn't get across the street. so i was just stopping. >> reporter: nearby, cars sat. >> that's a lot of water.

>> reporter: at an exit ramp near 280, workers tried to clear pockets of water. they have been at it for hours. >> all day long. all day long. everybody is out. anybody who is anybody is out there already. >> reporter: along lombard, for tree trouble. public works say they have been planning for it. with the forecast, it was expected. >> we've had about two dozen trees down in san francisco. a couple of them hit cars. that was the extent of the damage we've seen. no injuries, thankfully. and all over the city. so north beach, the richmond, diamond heights, it was across the board. >> reporter: you can see there's a parked car right on the street, but it looks like the tree may have landed most on the next tree and the sign on the street. we're waiting to get a little closer to get a better look before this crew wraps up. and then moves on to their next job. reporting live in san francisco, christie smith, nbc bay area news. >> all right, christie.

the high winds made for a choppy and difficult day for boats and ships? the san francisco bay and off the coast. one ship lost several shipping containers. remnants washed up on baker beach. this picture showing the mess. it comes from the golden gate national parks service. some areas in the sierra are expecting up to two feet of snow. snowpacks and tow trucks were busy as cars without chains got stuck. some trouble at ski resorts as well such as squaw valley. the resort had to close many of the lifts today because of the high wind. this is video showing the snow that fell over the weekend. we always love to see your weather videos. we have created a gallery of all of the videos folks sent in so far at nbcbayarea.com. there's also a link on the front page. you can scroll through the videos and pictures you've received and share yours as well. outrage after a video

services of deadly shooting in los angeles. >> why police say they continued to fire at this man even after he was down on the ground.

another police shooting causing a wave of fury. [ bleep ] >> put your guns down! >> protesters took to the streets overnight after this video surfaced, showing l.a. deputies opening fire on a 28-year-old man, killing him. this happened yesterday. because the video is graphic, we are just showing you a portion of it. the suspect, nicholas robertson, fell to the ground and then crawling away from the gunfire. deputies continued to fire about, 33 shots. >> he crawling on his knees.

he was crawling on his knees and they kept shooting. why? >> today the sheriff's department defended their actions saying that robertson was carrying a gun and refused to listen to officers, even after he'd been shot. activists are calling for an independent investigation, and for the justice department to now get involved. well, not everyone spent the day avoiding the wind and rain outside. >> yeah. check out the surfers who braved the cold and wind to catch some bigger waves. there they are. >> nice. >> one of our photographers, mr. michael form, shot this tonight. >> surfers are dedicated. they'll go even if they have to wade out. and the temperatures were chilly. >> cold temperatures overnight after the rinse cycle we had this morning. that was the view 8:00 to 10:00 this morning. nice sunshine around lunchtime. and then you walked outside and got hit by thunderstorms.

beautiful sunset from tibburon. the sun is setting. cool air aloft following that cold front this morning. heating abobelow it fired up th showers and thunderstorms. you can see on the coast things are beginning to shut down on the radar. wind speeds slowing down a little bit. still west at 20 into san francisco. oakland, cameras bouncing around. gusts to 26 miles per hour. but in san jose, christmas in the park, not all that bad. just a breeze and 3 miles per hour. tomorrow morning, temperatures dropping into the 30s and 40s. winds up enough tonight that i don't think we'll have too much in the way of patchy frost, but that's subject to change into tomorrow night and the middle part of the week. showers out of the picture for you tomorrow. and the high temperatures will stay on the cool side. numbers mostly in the mid 50s around san jose and san francisco. highs in the 50s for the most part. numbers in white, though, a preview of tomorrow night's low

temperatures, dipping into the lower 30s and around the trivalley highs tomorrow in the mid 50s. middle part of the week, things looking dry with one exemption. and that's in north bay on thursday. there's a slight chance we could see showers. however, the pattern ahead doesn't look all that great for rainfall. it's high pressure building back again. the skies will clear out and set the stage. here is a look at the tuesday morning lows. and wednesday morning low temperatures. so patchy frost could be a real possibility as we head toward the middle part of the week. next best chance of rainfall in the next seven days other than a slight chance in the north bay on thursday, same time next week. more raindroping through the bay area as we wrap up the weekend with temperatures in the 50s. overnight temperatures recovering with more rain and more sierra snow on the way just in time for next weekend. back to you. right now, kelly johnson with cam cost sportsnet is here. a lot of people watching

football today. how about the raiders? >> big surprise for the raiders. their playoff hopes may not be dead after all. howie long's record fell today. raiders, broncos at mile high. emanuel sanders in the fourth quarter. watch this. sure handed normally but drops the punt. the fumble is recovered, and jack del rio loves it. ensuing drive, derek carr to a wade open michael rivera. oakland was shut out in the first half. negative 12 yards of offense. but now up by three. 90 seconds left. there's khalil mack. the first player with five sacks in a game since aldon smith. raiders pulling off the upset 15-12. 49ers in cleveland facing the two-win browns. johnny manziel