>> al: volkswagen post game report, a show on the field with the star of the game. mike will break down the playoff picture up to the moment. a look at saturday night's game. the vikings and packers from lambeau field. meanwhile, this one tied at 17. second down and goal. just inside the 2 yard line. for the first time tonight they come up with a pistol formation. prescott heaves the ball off to morris who is -- >> cris: raiders have to take a time-out here. >> al: you would think. they have to take a time-out. >> it will be a 30-second time-out. >> al: so let me ask you this. high tech is now dead, is it

not? >> cris: that down came down to a folded piece of paper. >> al: sure. >> cris: he does that and it touches both sides of the first down. if he had a single index card or something straight and they had to worry about was the first down marker leaning one way or another, but i have never seen a folded piece of paper decide anything. he was squeezing it together. i don't want to make a big deal but jack has to be thinking, a folded piece of paper? so creative officiating. we knew this for a hundred years. every week we see something we have never seen before. >> al: first time. meanwhile you have morris.

tries to angle his way in. no sign yet. stopping at the four-inch line. >> cris: basically, morris got stuck. >> referee: the runner is short of the goal line. fourth down dallas. oakland has called their second time-out. 30-second time-out. >> cris: watch keith smith, the fullback as he's going in there and basically morris ran into him and sort of got twisted sideways. watch him. the ball turned away from the goal line and the raiders were able to get there. >> al: so now if you are garrett -- >> cris: you have to kick it. >> al: you would think. remember, too, dan bailey was hit by his own man on a run back. this was earlier. watch.

you have wilson's knee into the back of the head. they took him in the medical tent. they have obviously cleared him. he comes in to kick a tie-breaking field goal here. when oakland gets the ball back, they have the one time-out. jerry jones looks on. a 19-yard field goal attempt here. 20-17. so it's a three-point game with 1:44 remaining. >> cris: al, this happened to them earlier in the year. jeff heath had to come in. he kicked two out of three extra points. it didn't come to that this time. for jack del rio, he's pumped. talk about the culture, change

there they were with the goal line stand. at least tie it up. some of the key plays here. this was a missed field goal over the top of the upright by tavecchio. you had the hundred yard kick off return by patterson which was negated by a hold. a fake punt by chris jones. off to the races he went. and that culminated with a touchdown on that drive. then you have this, of course, which will live in infamy. classic. >> cris: oh, boy. only on "sunday night football." he saves all the good stuff. >> al: absolutely. goal line.

>> cris: uh-oh. 15 yards. valuable here. you don't want to be that guy at this point in the game either way. >> referee: holding 4 on the return team. ten-yard penalty. first down oakland. >> al: james causer. that will move them back. we have 1:38. one time-out. >> cris: patterson is exciting to watch return kicks.

only guy in league history other than gale sayers to average over 35 yards per kick off return and cordero has more. >> al: he's averaging over ten yards per carry in his career. came over from the vikings. action in this alignment now. carr throws. that's knocked away. intended for robertson. that's anthony brown account coverage. second down and ten with 1:34 left. >> cris: nice looking play. brown has to be the second slot when they go into the dime coverage. they have woods when there is just nickel. with dime he's the second slot without orlando scandrick. now the pressure really on newhouse to try to keep the left side protected. >> al: second and ten.

over the middle. that's caught up at the 20 yard line. that's seth roberts. clock under 1:30 now. first down at the 30. >> cris: back shoulder when he knew it was in trouble. >> al: 19 yards. flushed out. throws. that's crabtree on the sidelines. no good. awuzie with the coverage. 70 seconds left. >> cris: pass rusher on the outside. demarcus lawrence. they have flipped him over to the side. a game. that flushed derek carr out. so many times the pass rushers worked together. that's a quarterback and a wide receiver. those studs have to be so tight. we'll keep an eye on crawford

and lawrence on that side. >> al: four-man rush. fires and misfires. just shy of the 40 yard line. now third and ten. five seconds off the clock. 1:05 remaining. >> cris: crabtree will go in. think carr thought he was going to do that as he pushed in to sean lee. he came straight back. that's why the miscommunication. so many times when the defender is inside you work on working away from him. that's what carr thought he was going to get. >> al: third and ten. look out. almost picked off. anthony brown covering roberts on the play. 4th down. in effect last gasp for oakland.

>> cris: jack del rio. not even sure what derek carr saw to be honest with you. anthony brown all over that one. how can they be that aggressive? they have two deep safeties. the coverage doesn't care. not seeing pressure. just the four. that underneath coverage can be really bold. that's what you're seeing. there are the safeties back. >> al: the raiders stay alive. need ten on a fourth down here. carr. flushed out again. signals deep down field. and it is a flag for interference here. lewis was well over crabtree. pretty easy one to call. on 4th and ten they get the call. >> referee: pa i

defense number 27. first down. >> cris: first the escape. this is brilliant on the part of carr. he knew what he had. a veteran wide receiver against a rookie cornerback. you take your chances. i'm not sure crabtree would really try to catch that as much as he knew if he worked his way back through lewis. he would get the call. just inexperience on the part of lewis and great experience on the part of crabtree. >> al: when is the last time you saw a 55-yard penalty. that's what it amounts to. from the 15. with 51 seconds. carr under pressure. that will be patterson. at the 11 yard line. stops the clock. 44 ticks.

>> cris: somewhere up in the press box they are screaming down to the play caller here todd downing telling him to run that again. jared cook had one on one coverage and was wide open across the field. working against hitchens. there you go. that was going to be a walk-in touchdown if that was thrown. >> al: second and three from the 8. >> cris: they go back to zones. >> al: carr from the pocket. throws. knocked away on the end zone. the safety comes over. intended for crabtree. the 55-yard penalty. longest penalty call in the nfl this season. third and three. hitchens is down on the grass. >> cris: there's crabtree making an adjustment there. je

>> referee: due to an injury under two minutes. dallas and oakland have one time-out remaining in regulation. >> al: the cowboys are compelled. they have no choice, that's the rule. they have to take the time-out because of the injury in the last two minutes. so they would have woone. oakland has one. hitchens comes up. so meanwhile if brown holds on here at the start of the drive this game could have ended at that moment. >> cris: missed opportunities. so many times the story of national football league games. for the dallas cowboys taking the time off, the time-out, they end up coming up big later. one of the only things i worry about with the rule is players know it is going to cost them a time-out. sometimes players go over and try to pick up an injure

so they don't get the time-out burned. if the player happens to be in real jeopardy, that's the worst thing you can do. so it almost -- if they are going to have the rule you almost have to teach the referees, hey, get around the guy. don't let a player touch him. certainly we have seen that this year. >> al: third down and three now from the 8 yard line. 39 seconds remaining. a wide out. carr, under pressure. avoids the sack. and he's going to try to run it in. >> cris: loses the ball. >> al: does it go out of the end zone? does he lose the ball? the cowboys are signalling for a touch back. >> cris: this could be a touch back. >> al: iul

we have seen it before. >> cris: i think it is. >> al: jeff heath created it. >> referee: the runner fumbled forward through the end zone and out of the end zone. the ruling on the field is a touchback. first down dallas. >> al: yep. can you believe that? but that's the rule as he fumbles out of the end zone. >> cris: stretching, nothing goes out of bounds. ball is out of his hands inside the pylon. oh, my goodness. >> al: easy one to call. that's the rule. we have seen it a couple of times this year before. of all things the dallas cowboys get the biggest break of the night. that close to an oakland touchdown. instead the cowboys can run the clock out. >> cris: let's give credit to jeff heath.

the safety hustled over there. had the speed to make the play and i'll tell you honestly, i never thought jeff heath was that fast a player. i went back and looked it up. he ran a 4.48. his speed made the play. he was able to beat derek carr and get the hit on him. he was stretching and the ball comes free. oh, my. in a microcosm that's the raiders season. for jeff heath, what a play. >> al: he knew the rule. they review it because it's a turnover. can't see how this is over turned. it was third and three. he gained seven yards to the one. had he held on it would have been a first and goal. right now all the raiders can do is wish, hope and all of that. none of the drea

>> cris: for derek carr who admitted there have been times he could not sleep on sunday night because of close losses and interceptions and things that had gone wrong during games this year. >> al: he'll be watching the sun come up tomorrow. >> cris: yeah. it is basically season over for the raiders right now. season moving on for the dallas cowboys. >> al: the raiders would not be mathematically limited. it would take 96 things to happen. the cowboys will watch the monday night game tomorrow and root for tampa. >> referee: the ruling on the field is confirmed. it is a touchback. also unsportsman like conduct. oakland 24. the result of the touch back after a 15-yard foul it will

the oakland 35 yard line. >> al: foul on marshawn lynch. >> cris: confirmed is the right call. it's absolutely -- there's lynch afterwards. that's a good call. >> al: get him away before he made contact. it's amazing, isn't it. this game came down to a piece of paper that was folded over and a first down. otherwise it's the raiders ball on the 40 yard line and there are a lot more scenarios for the raiders to win than the cowboys. >> al: this was the site of the index card game. >> cris: the holy roller. >> al: that was in san diego.

the sea of hands was another game played in this ballpark. >> cris: what a game. >> al: jason garrett. >> cris: the former cowboy himself. >> al: jack del rio was here when jerry jones bought the team. troy aikman and emmitt smith were there beginning their careers. >> cris: gave garrett a shot to the chest. a lot of gutsy calls. >> al: coming up next, the volkswagen post game report.

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>> announcer: welcome to the volkswagen suvw post game report. >> mike: a piece of paper? a pylon? these teams only meet every four years. 21-17 dallas wins. it really puts the raiders in an impossible spot to make the playoffs. dallas like detroit and green bay could not do gets themselves back in the mix with a couple of weeks left in the season. watching the game on the field one thing stuck out. jason witten, 35 years old. 15 years in the league. his passion on the last drive was incredible. they had to keep him off the field. he runs out to catch jeff heath and the celebratory moment at the end of the game.

jeff heath is in the mix because of the key game changing play at the end. and dak prescott had some picks in there. the key drives in the first and second half of the touchdown. they get game balls and prescott is standing by now with michele tafoya. >> michele: thank you. dak, oakland was inches from winning. when you saw it was ruled a touchback, what was your reaction? >> relief. excited. so many emotions. i can't say one thing just to bottle up how i felt. the defense never gave up. it was amazing. >> michele: the difference in the game was a field goal. it came on a drive where on fourth and one you went for it. to measure, there was a piece of paper. have you ever seen that? >> he didn't have to do all that. it wasn't that close. it was interesting him measuring with the paper. >> michele: you knew you had to

what can you say about the way the team responded under those circumstances? >> it shows the character of the team. it might sum up how we have sad adversity. keep fighting. that's what the team is about. we have a couple more to go. >> michele: and ezekiel elliot comes back tomorrow. >> i'm excited to have my best friend back. >> michele: things looking up? >> definitely. >> michele: congratulations. >> mike: here's the nfc story. two of the six playoff spots are spoken for. the top five teams in the nfc all won today. eagles, first team to clinch a bye. vikings win. rams win in seattle. command to the west. seahawks lost from there. first division title in 14 years. panthers are in great shape for at worst a wildcard. al mentioned the game for atlanta with dallas, seattle,

the falcons are out. to win the south. over to the big game. to beat pittsburgh. jacksonville clinched the first playoff berth in a decade. they win with a win or a titans loss. jags are alive from all the top seed and they ruled the tie breaker on pittsburgh. scrambled for the final spots. the chiefs have the one game lead. three way tie for baltimore the one team that doesn't need help. you see why the loss is crushing for the raiders. we'll give you a test on that. tomorrow on nbcsn. five straight hours of football talk starting at 7:00 eastern. dan patrick show is 9:00 to noon. cowboys 20, raiders 17. al and cris wrap it up after this. really?

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>> announcer: welcome back to the post game report. here now al michaels and cris collinsworth. >> al: i'm not sure it will live forever but it will live for a while what happened tonight with the measurement. here we are in the shadow of silicon valley, just across the bay. this is how a first down was determined. there will be an index card ipo tomorrow. >> cris: the open end was put in there. if it opened at all -- and the football wiggled. >> al: sure. >> cris: for the next week you will be seeing -- we'll see all the scientists that will come out with an explanation of how we should be doing that. we'll have deflategate, everything this week. i promise. >> al: meanwhile for us, christmas eve on sunday night. so we'll have a saturday night game for you. we go to lambeau field.

aaron rodgers is back. even though they lost today against the minnesota vikings. i'll tell you, mike zimmer -- think about this. the third quarterback, case keenum is the guy. the defense is terrific. the super bowl is played in their stadium. you have the big battle between the two in the nfc north next week. >> cris: they have to be careful and maybe the whole national football league. if they get the number one seed, get to play two home games and the super bowl in their stadium that's a heck of a defense to beat at home. >> al: that comes your way. we have "sunday night football" on saturday night next week here on nbc. that will do it from oakland. your final score 20-17 in a wild one as the dallas cowboys stay alive in the playoff hunt. al michaels, cris collinsworth, michele tafoya, the whole gang saying good night from oakland.

>> announcer: nbc sports, home of super bowl lii, thanks you for watching this presentation of the national football league.

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. breaking tonight after nfl football, one of the league's most powerful owners is getting rid of his team. the world's busiest airport brought to a stand still, just

fire knocked out power and grounded more than 1,000 flights. as you look at the atlanta airport we just learned the power has been restored and we'll learn how the chaos in atlanta is affecting travelers in our region. >> news4 at 11 begins with breaking news. the atlanta airport plunged into darkness and confusion, one passenger taking this erie scene as she made her way to baggage alone and in the dark. live pictures courtesy of flight aware. live planes in and around atlanta. normally the airspace would be pretty crowded. good evenings. nearly 11 hours later and the lights are only now being restored, according to atlanta's mayor. a passenger describing today as

restaurants inside the terminal closed and vending machines not working and some stuck on the planes for hours. beginning our team coverage taking us inside this travel nightmare being felt around the world. >> reporter: a massive power outage at the world's busiest airport. >> we're waiting to find out what's going on and what we will do next. >> reporter: georgia says a power in an underground electrical facility may be to blame. >> we don't know the cause of the fire and will investigate it but more focused restoring electricity to the airport. >> reporter: all flights were halted and international flights were diverted and some stuck on the tarmac and others said finding flight information is a struggle. >> we haven't gotten an e-mail or text. i am surprised at that. >> the system was down and this is a mess. >> reporter: the power

travel season, u.s. air flyers expected to fly 51,000 passengers between december 15th and january 4th. while it may have dampened some's travel plans but didn't dampen their holiday spirit. >> santa claus and mrs. klaus came and lightened the mood a little bit. >> reporter: a lighter mood for passengers who can do little but wait. >> that's good perspective. darcy spencer is live at the reagan international airport. >> the ripple effect is what passengers are concerned about to catch other planes to get home to families over the holidays. >> reporter: if you look around me, it is typically very quiet in reagan national airport but it is no consot

we are at the departure board at the airport and you see a number of cancelled flights. in the red is the number of flights rescheduled for tomorrow morning. we caught up with one woman trying to get back home to atlanta tomorrow and got dropped off at the airport only to find her flight cancelled. we found several from reagan and dulles and ibw. she was okay with it because she got to spend and extra night with her fiance. >> i do have a dog boarded and an extra day of cost with boarding and parking. i had a doctor's appointment and that will be fun to try to reschedule. other than that, hopefully they won't hit me with the no show fees, i couldn't help it. >> reporter: she had pretty good spirits about it considering the fact she went all the way to the airport and had to