dreams shot, they're set to play the role of spoilers. and the birds faithful there in a frenzy. >> the giants have made the two-hour trip from east rutherford, new jersey to philadelphia. and the eagles could 00 the playoff plans of their rival. >> the birds set to battle the giants at the link, set for 8:25 tonight. the stadium already jumping with thursday night football in town. keith jones live on the field, tim furlong is with the fans outside the link. let's begin with keith, the excitement starting to build there, keith? >> reporter: you can feel the energy and the fans haven't even entered the gate just yet. the field are just entering the field, they're doing laps around the field. we knew sproles was questionable comes into this game. one thing you will notice at

home, the team's uniform will look a little bit different because of the nfl's color rush promotion. you're seeing the eagles all black uniforms, they have worn them four times. and the giants will be wearing all white uniforms, they're a throw back from the uniforms they wore back in the '80s and '90s. and they'll be wearing the giants logo. outside, however, tim furlong joins us out there, he is in the middle of it. in the midst of the bird's nest. what do you think, tim? how is the energy out there? >> reporter: yeah, people have been here for seven hours or so, so a lot of energy here.

the eagles fans aren't in the playoffs, but we want to make sure the giants aren't either. everybody wants us to not treat this as a throw away game. relatively meaningless game, the eagles fans are bringing the energy. the parking lots are full, the grills are hot. the crowds are swarming to the nbc sunday night football truck which of course is here on a thursday. >> it is a thursday night, we have a long tailgate and it's a beautiful day. >> reporter: this game does mean something for eli manning and his giants. >> it's like the 2010-2011 giants. >> lots of new yorkers in north jersey. >> reporter: when the panthers were out of the playoffs you became a giants fan? it's over here.

>> t >> reporter: the eagles lineman was suspended for violating the informal's substance rules. >> it's a bad situation, but i'm going to cheer him, you have to cheer him, he's an eagle. >> reporter: the eagles really need to protect carson better this year, they really needed lane johnson, either way it's a great night for football. i don't think these fans care about anything but the party before the game. hopefully it's going to be a nice, competitive game and hopefully it will be an eagles win and more progress for carson wentz. >> tim furlong for us out in the parking lot. doesn't seem like they feel the cold that's settled over lincoln financial field right now. we're going to take a moment real quick, glenn "hurricane" schwartz admonished me for my lack of a coat. i just wanted to show my true

colors. >> with the black coat and the black end zone, you totally disappear. i can't even see you. >> good point. >> maybe that will help the eagles receivers in the end zone, the other guys won't be able to see them. the wind is going to be a factor during the game. right now we have sustained winds at 20 miles an hour in philly. and it's going to be pretty close to that as we go through the night. so not only will it affect the windchill, but it also affects perhaps the kicking and the passing games. the temperature going down through the 30s, which is still not bad, this time of the nights, at this time of the year, it could be so much worse. the wind, 10 to 20 miles an hour, making it feel a little bit colder than that, but there is zero chance of any kind of precipitation. a different story on that for the holiday weekend. i'll get into that in a few minutes but keith, pretty good timing for decent weather tonight. >> i think so and you know what,

both these teams are used to cold weather from new york and philadelphia. the energy, the atmosphere at lincoln financial field will also overcome all that, the eagles by the way no stranger to thursday night football. however last time we saw them, last thanksgiving, they played the lions they got blown out 45-15. to eagles fans, i hope things go a little bit better this time. coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. on nbc10. then eagles-giants, kick off at 8:25, followed by eagles game day final. a rivalry that stretches i-95, from north jersey, east rutherford all the way down here to south philadelphia. send it back to you, jim, jackie? >> you have us all hooyped, kei.

we are ready for a showdown tonight. n new video of a sneaky thief who's preying on office buildings in new jersey. >> police believe he struck in six counties in the garden state, atlanta, camden, burlington, gloucester and union. nbc10 jersey shore reporter ted greenberg shows us the thief uses the stolen cards to cash in at the apple store an other retailers. >> you feel violated, your office and workplace are supposed to be safe places. >> reporter: but that's exactly where dr. monica's wallet was stolen. >> i hope he's caught. >> reporter: investigators say the theft of her egg harbour township office in october was committed by the same man who's

commit committed robberies in the last two months. authorities say the thief goes into offices belonging to doctors, lawyers and other pr professionals, stealthily steals wallets from desks, and racks all thousands of dollars of illegal purchases. police have also noticed a pattern. most of the crime are being committed on tuesdays and wednesdays. >> there's a lot of victims out there, it's christmas time and this guy obviously has no care in the world for these people. >> reporter: investigators say the thief usually buys high end i electronics, with the stolen credit cards, mainly apple computers and ipads. egg harbour township police are leading the investigation. they believe the hat wearing thief is in his 20s or early 30s, he drives a blue pontiac

gran prix possibly with a bogus pennsylvania license plate. police are hoping someone will tell them who this man is. >> it would be a christmas if we could arrest this guy. a local teenager missing since the summer has been found dead. now the 14-year-old's mother is under arrest. grace parker's mother reported the teen aager missing to abbington township police on jew july 11. sarah, grace's mother has been charged with neglect in the case. police say she gave them bad information about grace's disappearance. now investigators are asking for more information about what happened to grace and how she died. >> we're asking for all of our perspective regions, for our citizens to provide us with any information that could help us

solve grace's murder. we want to bring these people to justice. >> police are asking anyone who saw grace and her mother anywhere in june or july or had any interactions with them to call them. today we learned two u.s. citizens were hurt in the attack on the christmas market in berlin. large concrete blocks have been placed at the entrances. investigators say they found this man's prints in the cab of the truck. president-elect trump is tweeting about america's nuclear arsenal. mr. trump tweeted the united states mustily strengthen and expand it's nuclear capability until the world comes to its senses regarding nukes, trump

says she will modern size the nation's nuclear arsenal so that it will remain an effective deter rent. kellyanne conway is going from campaign manager to counselor to the president. the 49-year-old mother of four went to high school in hamilton. for complete coverage of the transition to trump, stay tuned for "nightly news with lester holt" ahead at 6:30. the holiday countdown is on. just two days to go before christmas weekend and the start of hanukkah and there's a mad rush to get ready. >> reporter: time is running out to get to your local bakeries and delis. the crowd will only get worse tomorrow. plus a philly twist on the holidays plus a windy night on tap and rain is also going to be moving into part of our area, a look at when it's going to start

and a look at your holiday plans next in my exclusive first alert forecast.

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we're following breaking muse out of trial, police have

arrested seven suspects that planned -- and made the arrests during raids last night and this morning. again breaking news out of australia, police arresting seven suspects planning a major bombing on melbourne. thousands of kids are going home with gift s for the holidays. all these btoys were given to children whose parents just couldn't afford kbigifts this y. randy, the last time we saw you, you were in that bakery, you had us salivating. >> reporter: the clock is ticking to get your hands on the supplies for your christmas dinner or maybe your christmas dessert. we're at the farmer's pride deli in roxborough, and they have the

clock ticking, two days, four hours and 20 minutes to get your supplies for christmas and hanukkah. this roxborough deli offers up trays of holiday hoagies to serve at the dinner table. with deep italian heritage, the store also sells italian christmas traditions like fresh bacula. >> we have a lot of italian traditional desserts and all kinds of happy, cheery people. >> reporter: and skipping ahead, charmini brothers in south philly has been helping people celebrate for 30 years. pastry chefs here have spent months prepping mainstays at

christmas dinners across philly. >> the tradition and the family and the love that these customers feel when they come in here. and that's what the holidays are all about. >> reporter: and for some tradition holiday meat, jime's deli is working overtime, because christmas weekend coincides with hanukkah. >> instead of having two weeks where we have separate pushes, we get everything all at once, so we have been putting in the extra hours getting everything done and hoping we make everybody's holiday as good as we can. >> reporter: most of the store owners i have been talking to will likely be tomorrow after people get off work and those last minute shoppers on christmas eve. a live look inside lincoln financial field, the scene of thursday night's showdown. fans will be bundling up to

watch the birds battle the giants a game you can only see on nbc10. it's going to be chilly out there. >> but not as cold as it could be. >> we have had worse many, many times, late december, especially on a night game. and we have got dry conditions, you can see the flag blowing pretty hard, it is windy out there and it is going to stay windy throughout the night. it's 44 degrees in philadelphia, 39 in coatesville, 41 degrees in allentown, so the temperature is going down. but it went up today. it was only 34 for the high tuesday, 45 yesterday, 53 today and we're going to be above that average of 43 for several days to come, all the way through the holiday weekend and beyond. it feelslike 37 right now in philadelphia. it doesn't feel like it's in the 20s anywhere, despite all that

wind. so again, not too booad for thi time of the year. we do have some clouds coming in from the northwest. down from the rockies over the plains and that is going to be moving our way affecting us as we head into christmas eve. there's friday, a really nice day, not as windy as today either. friday night, still pretty quiet, saturday morning, different story. 7:00, 8:00 in the morning, look at that. we're saturated with rain, everybody's got rain saturday morning. and then even the midday hours, let's sigh from philly toward the shore. still raining, but drying out. north and west, and then everybody dries out by later in the afternoon, here's 3:00 and this computer model has the rain already offshore and then we clear out for christmas eve and christmas day. and conditions are pretty good

for both of those times, as you can see, christmas eve, 45 degrees at 6:00. it's dry everywhere. and then it will be getting a little bit cooler but not too cold for this time of the year. same story for christmas morning. in the 30s. by 10:00 a.m., we're in the 40s, and then we get to near 50 degrees, but it's not going to be like that for new year's eve. it looks like we're going to have a cold blast coming next friday, set us up for a cold and dry new year's eve, with temperatures in the upper 20s. i'm john clark, live at the link, it is freezing here, it is windy, coming up, we'll show you lane johnson arriving for his first game since his suspension. stay tuned.

breaking a five-game losing streak, the giants can actually clinch a playoff spot, the birds, no playoffs for them, and the eagles have beaten the giants last year at the link, 54-7. lane johnson, back from suspension, remember, the first four games, the birds are 3 and 1. the last ten games without him, they are 8 and 2. the birds are coming off a real

short week so their bodies have to recover quickly tonight. >> i love it. we're about to get this sour taste out of our mouth, and we got another opportunity, you get the weekend, enjoy your family for christmas. >>. >> reporter: just four days ago, the eagles lost another close one in baltimore, so this year they are 0 and 6 in games decided by six points or les. but they did score in their final drive in baltimore, they want to finish this season, these last two games on a high note. >> all these games, you come up time and time again. that sucks, it is tough and there are things keep saying we got to learn from, but at the end of the day, we have to find a way to win these games.

obviously we're learning, and we're gaining that experience, but it's still frustrating. >> the game of course is right here on nbc10 around 8:30, stay with us all throughout the night, 7:00 we start with a live eagles game day kickoff, and then after the game, we'll have live locker room reaction, doug pederson, malcolm jenkins and hopefully a bird's win. the birds haven't been swept by the giants in nine years, they don't want to start now.

big night tonight right here inside lincoln final, a kickoff for the giants at 8:25. the eagles game day and after

the game, watch eagles game day final followed by nbc10 news. sometime well after 11:00. >> keep it here. i'm feeling good about tonight, i really am. >> we'll do better against the giants than a lot of others. >> i agree with you. and the weather is going to be pretty decent for this time of the year, this time of the night, we have night games and we're going to temperatures drop into the 30s with some wind, 10 to 20 miles an hour. and that could have an impact on the game. we do have mild weather through the holiday weekend here, we have a rainy day on saturday, especially the morning, midday hours, then by the end of next week, new year's weekend, we get another shot of some really cold air, but in the meantime, these temperatures are at least 10 degrees above average by the time we get to monday and tuesday. so you get those cold temperatures again, it's going

to feel it. thanks for watching here at 6:00, i'm jim rosenfield. tonight, new arms race. donald trump says the u.s. should strengthen and expand its nuclear capability, on the same day vladimir putin calls for an escalation in russia. and tense moments for ivanka trump aboard a plane. moment of terror. new images from the instant a truck plowed into a berlin christmas market. the suspect still on the loose. tonight, what u.s. officia officials knew before the rampage. christmas delivered. as we enter the season's busiest travel days, a brewing storm threatens to blast millions with heavy snow and rain. controversial arrest, caught on camera. a mother calls police for help, but she's the one who ends up in cuffs. outrage erupting tonight. and real life