orleans saints, and tonight the site of a tussle for first place in the nfc south as the surging carolina panthersay a visit on "sunday night football." drew brees and the saints are coming off a short and unproductive week following a blowout loss monday night in seattle, and the matchup doesn't get much easier tonight, but at least the saints are back in new orleans where they're a perfect 6-0 this season. cam newton and the panthers have been one of the nfl's biggest

orleans saints, and tonight the site of a tussle for first place in the nfc south as the surging carolina panthersay a visit on "sunday night football." drew brees and the saints are coming off a short and unprodti

. >> the saints playing close attention to the carolina panthers came. a loss would give them the number two overall seed. it was not to be. cam newton threw two touchdown passes. >> matt ryan, nine times, four coming from hardy. here is how the play-off standings look in the nfc - seattle seahawks have home field venge as the number one. number three, philadelphia or dallas. those two are playing now. the winner of that game will be the three seed as champion of the nfc east. san francisco and the saints, two wildcard winners on the road next week to play in the play-offs. now to the afc, where there are four chances to claim the final wildcard spot. pittsburg steelers needed a win, but three other teams to lose. the steelers did their part. lefion bell ran for 90 yards going along with ben rothel burger's passing yards. pittsburg winning. helps the steelers avoid a losing season. one of the three teams pittsburg needed to lose was the miami dowl sfins. the jets spoiler. three long scoring drives. jets go to a win ending the dolphin's shot. one down, tw

carolina. panthers go on to win again. improving to 9 and 3. can you believe we are 67 days away until the winter olympics. we are going bob sledding. john henry smith has the story. >> steven hull come has been competing as an american bob sledder in 1988. he struck cold back in 2010, as the driver of a 4-man team. the first win for americans since 1948. the win was sweet for hulcombe. he had to overcome a rare eye disease until his dreams come into focus. >> i had a degenerative eye disease, a thinning of the kornia, causing it to bulge out. you go blind. everything was going well. it caused a lot of isolation. i withdrew from everything and found a deep depression. >> to say he hit rock bottom is an understatement as he struggled with the vision and keeping the disability a secret. the bob sledder withdrew from friends and family and tried to take his own life. >> you would be surprised what the human body can endure. you go through crazy stuff. i attempted suicide at one point. there was a moment when i realised i was here for a bigger purp

carolina panthers enter the nfc south, tied in the division with 9 and 3.night they played in the from dome where the saints have yet to lose. drew brees passed the 50,000 yard passing mark, with peyton manning and john elway. are 31-13 win. by the way the six total touchdowns in this game pushed the nfl to 90 on the day setting a new league report. >>> in the bay area, the niners spoiling the seahawks cps easily won the last two meetings but the seahawks lost three straight road, colin kaepernick gave the niners 16-14 lead, 22 yard field goal, by dawson with 26 minutes seconds remaining, 19-17 win. >>> eagles running back leshawn mccoy, touchdown runs of 57 and 40 yards. the eagles would go on to post the 34-20 victory. john henry smith has more from philadelphia. >> after the philadelphia eagles defeated the detroit alliance, admitted he felt the snow wasn't really going to start until after half time. well, we were able to see all game long that he needs a new weather person. but also, it appeared that the eagles team themselves did not believe that the

. $37 for a carolina panthers baseball cap. a $180 sports bar bill. he gets hungry and goes to little seizers for a pizza. they have surveillance of him doing that. what does he think of the sentence handed out today? more on that coming up at 6:00. i'm pat collins, live in montgomery county. >>> we want to take you back to the breaking news that created a traffic nightmare in the georgetown area of northwest d.c. here is barbara harrison at the live desk. >> wendy, we are watching the area around k street where a bomb threat investigation tied up the roads around georgetown. here is a look at the gridlock along e street expressway over a suspicious package reported at the house of sweden, home of the swedish embassy along k street. police got the call about two hours ago. several roads are still blocked off at this hour. we will continue to monitor the situation and the traffic in that area and get back to you if there are changes. back to you now. >>> when will the new metro silver line over for business? the answer is tba. the project director said

. >> reporter: in charlotte, fan of the new orleans/carolina panthers name endured drenching rain. >> how about this guy right below the booth? >> reporter: this guy seemed to have the worse seat of the house as rain cascaded down from the up dper desk. for nearly 94 million expected travelers, it's a wacky combo of weather. >> extreme weather still continues this morning. let's talk about the icing first. still seeing new england into the northeast. only about a quarter of an inch potential still left. it should diminish as the morning continues on. farther down the south we're still talking about rain in big metropolitan areas. generally one, maybe three-inch areas. we do still have flooding concerns. should be exiting offshore as we go through the evening especially through the carolinas. that should be the slowest place that we see it exit offshore. keep in mind, may be warm in the morning but we're going to cool off as the day goes on. many places should see highs as the overnight lows once the cold front kicks through. how about the snow? still one to three inches of snow around

but it sure drenched this fan at the carolina panthers game.aybe next time he'll try the upper deck. >>> and in some places there was so much rain, this was the result, streets turned into rivers in parts of illinois. in larrew, ohio, some residents go it around in kayaks instead of cars. this woman had to be rescued by boat from her retirement village. rising water is to blame for the loss of three lives in kentucky. five people in this suv tried to cross a small bridge but the river was too much. >> it appears they tried to turn around and dropped the front end off the edge of the bridge and swept it away. >> two inside the suv managed to skip but couldn't pull the others to safety. >>> in des moines, iowa, and wichita, kansas it wasn't rain but snow that was the problem. causing horrible accidents on the roads. and there was ice too. at this outlet mall in oklahoma city, sheets of ice slowed down holiday shoppers. in upstate new york, ice knocked out power and froze power lines, leaving nearly 200,000 customers in the dark, possibly until ch

just ask the carolina panthers. of course, this is a team that you got to watch out for. rolina in the playoffs for the first time in five years. they locked up that spot yesterday with a stunning win over new orleans. remember, back in the beginning of the month, the saints throttled this team. carolina scored the game winner in the final 20 seconds and they went on to win. tony romo threw away the game last week and threw the game winner there week. dallas beat the redskins to remain in the playoff hunt. cowboys play the eagles and winner is in and loser is done. can't say i saw this coming. arizona cardinals pulled off the biggest win yesterday beating seattle in seattle with a touchdown in the final 2:00. with the win the cardinals still have a chance to get into the playoffs. packers could have made it four fantastic finishes but a pass in the game's final play did not go for a green bay touchdown. the steelers pulled off the win and still have an outside shot to get in the playoffs. of course, they need a lot of help. the packers have to win next week to get in. >>>

in charlotte, fans of the new orleans-carolinas panthers game endured drenching game.med to have the worst seat in the house as rain cascaded down from the upper deck. flooding in the great lakes had rescuers evacuating a retirement village in la rue, ohio. it's a whacky combo of weather. all right. take a look at what we have already seen. almost 10 inches of flooding in illinois. on the contaft we had all this icing, over an inch in upstate new york. we had an ice storm. today, what are we left with? flood watches. we will give you the upstates dates coming up in a few minutes. >> all right. thank you for that. >>> let's look overseas now, new reports of violence in south sudan this morning as president obama raises the stakes on possible military action there. he says, we will do what it takes to protect americans, including sending in more troops. countries have been air lifting people and one evacuation mission left four people wounded after their aircraft came on fire. barbara starr is live with the latest. good morning, barbara. >> reporter: good morning, kate.

. >> and you know the north carolina panthers will be there. >> and the cia leader did new edward snowdeny but now he is saying trader is a better term. why the change in language from the general? >> heather, because edward snowden keeps going and releasing or trying to release information to various country. the general used to head the nsa and cia said it used to be united states citizens who stole the country's secrets went to moscow and that was it. but this case is different. >> he has offered to reveal more american secrets to governments in return for something. and in return was for asylum. there is a word were this: treason. >> he says it will take years or decades for the united states to recover from the disclosures. >> others are defending him? >> one former nsa employees who exposed techniques because he felt they didn't go far enough is saying edward snowden is no trader. >> i consider him a whistle blower. he exposed evidence about the program and how it isn't constitutional. >> edward snowden gave a christmas message on british television said a child born today will neve

the seattle seahawks and carolina panthers earning the first round byes there.the kansas city chiefs will travel to indianapolis to face the colts on saturday, the san diego chargers visit the cincinnati bengals on sunday. the denver broncos and new england patriots received first round byes in the afc. shanahan, by the redskins, gets fired. who you got in the super bowl? >> oh, boy. dagen: who you want? >> i'm going do go with seattle even though i've been a little wary of them in the last three weeks. we've got those traditional powerhouses who struggled this year, new england, the saints, green bay, against these upstarts who look like maybe they're the real deal, you know, the seahawks for one or the panthers. well, the guys who struggled but now how to win, it's going to be a tremendous season, playoff season. dagen: if my kid since can't get -- redskins can't get anything done, then i root for the seahawks, so there you go. that's my completely messed-up logic. >> well, this year you would have made a lot of money wetbetting on this crazy logic. a crazy se

playing the game in moon soon like conditions, the saints trying to beat south carolina, and cam newton drives the panthers5 yards in the final minute. 17-13 the final, carolina captures a playoff spot for the first time in five years, despite the loss new orleans still earns a wild card berth. >> after blowing a big league get the packers, dallas pulled one out against washington. romo finds murray for a touchdown. cowboys win 24-23. so next play the eagles next week, with the winner going to the playoffs. >> the cal women's basketball team was homing to pull off an upset today of uconn but the bears could not keep it close. this matchup was held at madison square garden. morris scored 21 points in just the first half. one more than the entire cal team. the huskies roll 80-47. stewart had 29 points. cal falls to 7-3. so with today's loss, the raiders drop to 4-11. and you have to wonder if another house cleaning is on the horizon. >> thank you so much, rick. >>> $648 million mega millions jackpot was big. we'll tell you about the biggest lottery jackpot in the >> coming up at 6:00. rescued from a recyclin

for now, carolina panthers and 49ers have a grip on the final two spots in the n.f.c. >> there is nevemoment in the big d., whether the cowboys are winning or losing, there's controversy. one of the catalysts have been since his rainfall that of dez bryant. sunday, during the cowboy's collapse against the packers, bryant became the talk of sports when he left the field as the packers were kneeling down on the ball for the win. many called the act selfish at this time during his team's darkest moment of the 2013 season. bryant faced the music monday and candidly told the press why he left the field. >> first i'll start by saying that was not the right thing to do, you know, was to, you know, walk back in. i wasn't looking at it, you know, that way, how people portray me how i look, which i understand. i'm a very emotional player. i've always been that way you, and i got to do a better job of controlling my emotions. >> that is a look at sports this hour. del, you didn't want to see him crying. >> i'm a redskins fan. i do it every sunday. >> i feel your pain. >> when we come back, the un

. >> the carolina panthers used a player that's barely been a blip on the radar all week long to beatng the team of the words keep pounding which is stitched into their uniform. cam newton struggled all day long, but kept pounding, finding hickson for the game-winning score. panthers bethe saints and will be in the playoffs for the first time since 2008. >> with that win, panthers now control their own destiny. as they win they can week and have the division crown, they have been chasing all season round of course and a first round bye. big week 17 next sunday. >> it is, here we go, right? anything can happen. not going to ask you for predictions. >> there's no such thing anymore. >> tragedy in the waters of the mediterranean. residents in one italian community are dealing with the deaths of migrants trying to make their way to europe for a better life. >> creating jobs for american veterans. doing it one beer at a time. >> in making a dying girl's final wish come true. thousands came together to deliver her a musical message. and join the conversation online @ajamstream. consider thi

it's like the carolina panthers of business. >> one of the second largest department stores has warnednder about best buy, whether they have to follow in those shoes. >> whether it's the tesla, people talk to twitter as one of the highest ipos and although we've been around the block and back, $63 is a gain of about 3%. but this was $74 just a few days ago. >> what was the first trade on twitter, carl? was it 45? >> priced at 28, somewhere around 48. not quite 50 as i recall. >> it's funny, having a conversation this morning with one of the few hedge fund managers able to come to the phone about why you would want to own it here. i guess if you believe, as we talk so often that they are just at the cusp of figuring out their business model, and it's exciting a lot of investors out there, do you believe it will be a hundred dollars stock by 2016, perhaps you still are happy to buy here and see what would be a little more than a 10% plus return until that year. it's anybody's guess at this point in terms of valuation. >> it's gone from 20 to 30 to 42. just amazing swings. paper wealth cr

the playoff standings in nfc and seahawks with home advantage as the number one seed and the carolina panthershave home field advantage for at least one game and philadelphia and green bay have 3 and 4 seed respectively and san francisco and new orleans land the two wild card spots. match-ups when this kicks off next weekend and the wild card will have the eagles and saints saturday, a night game at 8:00 p.m. and packers host the nfc, 49ers at 4:30. the chargers needing the stars to align to get in the playoffs yesterday and they did. taking on the chiefs, picking up in over time, san diego had faked the punt and takes it up the middle and the ball gray has it and gets a score. hold up, ref is a full word action and chargers get to keep the ball and would eventually get a field goal instead and that was 14-15 and chiefs in the final and daniel picking the pocket. chargers win 27-24. and they sneak in the playoffs. here is a look at afc pictures and how it plays off and denver broncos and home field advantage with number one seed with patriots number two. cincinnati gets the third seed over ind

panthers 65 yards. hixon with the game-winning catch. 17-13 the final. carolina captures a playoff spot for the first time in five years. despite the laws, new orleans still earns a wild card berth. >>> after bro belowing a big we can last week against the packers, dallas pulled one out against washington. trailing by six late in the game. fourth and goal, tony romo steps up and finds demarco murray for the touchdown. cowboys win 24-23. they play the eagles next week with the winner going to the playoffs. >> the cal women's basketball team was hoping to pull off an upset of top ranked connecticut but the bears could not keep it close. this matchup was held at madison square garden. uconn's star sophomore landed most of the punches, scoring 21 points the first half. one more than the entire cal team. the huskies roll 80-47. stewart tied a career high with 29. cal falls to 7-3. >>> the sharks are just 4-6 this

. >> and carolina panther fans proved their loyalty sunday.took on the new orleans saints. the sudden downpour flooded the stands in the third quarter but the fans were rewarded with a win as the panthers won the game 17-13. that's rain all right. 8:05 right now. let's get a check of the weather with dylan dreyer. >> announcer: today's weather is brought to you by kay jewelers. every kiss begin with kay. >> thanks, natalie. i love what we found. we have fake picture, eventually you'll find the real woman. here she is. what's the special occasion? >> my birthday. >> how old are you? just kidding. i would never ask that question. we are seeing the rain pick up a lot here. but our pick city of the day we're heading out west. out to ohio, cleveland ohio. temperatures will be much, much colder here. 24 degrees by tuesday and wednesday we're back up to about 31. that's where some of the cold air is. you head further to the west and it's even colder. we're about 10 below in parts of the northern plains and it feels like 30 to 40 degrees below zero on

arizona still playoff contender 9-5. 49ers chasing carolina for the top spot, panthers hosted the jetsay. cam newton with the us to williams. he goes -- toss to williams. he goes 72 yards match caroline -- yards, kara linea win -- carolina wins. >> stanford football fans, take a sigh of relief. david shah will not change or chase any other job. the day he took over he said this was his ideal job. he didn't want it to be a stepping stone for another job. now several sources confirm he is not going anywhere except to the rose bowl for the second straight year. mark ellis is about to join the st. louis cardinals. he spent two seasons with the dodgers. he is a solid defenseman. cardinals expect him to be insure as they groom wong at second base. >> the shoot out, matt kuchar watches his teammate sink the birdie putt. this is a two man tournament. his approach on par 56 sets up a birdie -- par 5 six sets opbirdie. tournament record 1458. they win by 7 big strokes. >> and that is sports for sports wrap. 49ers win their 10th game of the year. raiders lose their 10th game of the year. that is

carolina. with no time-outs left, cam newton drives the panther 65 yards in the final minute. dominic with the game winning catch. 17-13 the final there. carolina camdentures playoff spot for the first time in five years. despite the loss, they still earned the while card berth. >>> the cal women's basketball team was hoping to pull off an upset but the bears could not keep it close. this was health at madison square garden. uconn star sophomore did most of the heavy punches. she scored 21 points the first half. one more than the entire cal team. the huskies roll 80-47. the cal men also had a rough day against creighton. they got a care in the first half. jabari byrd hurt his ankle trying to get the rebound. towed leave the contest. doug mcdermott led all scores. cal loses 68-54. they're now 8-4. >>> the sharks are just 4-6 this month and it could be worse had they not come back from a 2-0 deficit against dallas. despite their hot start at the beginning of the season, they are now sit go at third place in a very specific division. even in december there is no room for error. >>

. >>> the panthers sacked matt ryan nine times. carolina, 21, atlanta, 20. the saints get a wildcard berth. thanks to a win over the bucs there. >>> chiefs at chargers tied. the chiefs flub the game-winning field goal right there. then they go into overtime because of it. the chargers with their own feel goal 27-24. >>> seahawks beat the rams, 27 to 9. >>> the nfc denver broncos dominated. peyton manning sets a season record with 557. 55 season tds another record. he also led to break the nfl's points record with 607 points all in a day's week. the afc, broncos with homefield advantage, patriots, colts, bengals, chiefs and the chargers. for the nfc, seahawks with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. packers, 49ers and saints. pride on the line for the last vikings game. and it worked. 14-13. minnesota moves into a new stadium. the lions are 7-24. the metrodome, oh, the history there. and some fans left with some souvenirs. >>> don't try this at home, jaguars rookie roy reynolds goes for the tackle. forget the helmet. despite the effort, jags lose to

carolina. the panthers, if they win can clinch a spot.aints lost four of the last six road games. >> the only way i know to fix it is the process throughout the wok. the preparation in regards to knowing the game plan cold and executing it in practice and visualising success or yourself in the moment. wherever you are going, whatever the conditions will be. when you do that. you go out and play well and what you visualise is what's. >> third ranged ohio brought in 11 winning streaks to new york city to face not re dame. the black rock martin class i, and the venue was maddison square carden. naith job stepped back. the irish in front by eight. smith lines up with a rocket. pulling ocu within four. smith - he'll try to shoot the three ball. getting through the hard way. smith made all three cutting the lead to one. 22 ticks. aaron clad drives. ohio state would hold on for the come from behind win. >> the marr key match up in the n.b.a. went down in san antonio texas. the san antonio spurs hosting kevin durant. the match up of the conferenc

panthers up 7-6. fourth quarter carolina on top drew breesz looking for the main manned. find it new orleans up by three. less than 30 seconds left cam newton, domenic hick son nice. 14 yards for the score. the panthers win for the 10th time in the last 11th game. be careful you have another game, don't pile on him. >> here is how the nsc south look. panthers cap clench it with a win in atlanta. the saints can watch and see if arizona lose to seattle. cowboys and redskins renewing their rivalful battling to win the nsce. tony romeo there. des-bryant done in the end zone. the cowboys in good shape, 14 yards on the plate. alfred moyes. under a minute and a half left. fourth and 10. the whole season is on the line. look at romeo, he makes it happen again. cowboys escaped 24-23. look at jason garrett, "yes, we'll kick the extra point." the cowboys now face the eagles in dallas for a winner-take-all game with the nsce title and a play-off berth on the line. the loser out of the play-offs. >> with the winter olympic games approaching we continue a look at the american athletes

carolina. with no timeouts cam newton drives the panthers 65 yards in the final minute. inal. carolina captures a playoff spot for the first time in five years. despite the loss, new orleans still earns a wild card birth. the cal women's basketball team was hoping to pull off an upset of top ranked connecticut. the bears could not even keep the game close. this match up at madison square garden. brianna stewart scored 21 points in the first half. one more than the entire cal team. they roll to an 80-47 victory. stewart tied her career high and the bears fall to 7-3. the cal men also had a rough day against crayton. they got a scare when bird hurt his ankle. he had to leave the contest. the bluejays lead from start to fen. mcdermott lead with 24 points. cal loses it 68-54 and they are now 8-4. in hawaii, unbeaten saint mary took on south carolina. after being down by as much as 12, they rallied and james walker the third ties it up at 50. the gamecocks regain the lead and never give it up. the basket and the foul and williams knocks down a big three. saint mary's loses for

. >>> cam newton, and carolina keep chugging along. today, the panthersate tampa bay for their 8th straight victory. the panthers win 27-6. they're 9-3, in and are the number 1 nfc wild card team. >>> josh to jeffrey. vikings defender, chris cook is all over itment i wish my suit fits that well. but he still scores the touchdown. 249-yards and 2 touchdowns. blair walsh kicks the field goal. the vikings win. they're just 3-8-1. the bears fall to 6-6. >>> guess what? there's a new number 1 emerging in the bcs standings, and the warriors try to finish off their road trip on a bright light. >>> golden state finished off its four game road trick in sacramento. the kings old arena lost power, and there was a blackout. once it got started, the kings wanted to run. usually, you want to drive it to the hoop. but no. three ball for curry. curry with 36 tonight. the warriors led 56-53 at halftime. this is clay's 8th three- pointer of the game. the warriors made 15 of their 25 three-point attempts. this game went down to the wire tied at 111. the guy off the bench ma

carolina. with no timeouts cam newton drives the panthers 65 yards in the final minute. spot for the first time in five years. despite the loss, new orleans still earns a wild card birth. the cal women's basketball team was hoping to pull off an upset of top ranked connecticut. the bears could not even keep the game close. this match up at madison square garden. brianna stewart scored 21 points in the first half. one more than the entire cal team. they roll to an 80-47 victory. stewart tied her career high and the bears fall to 7-3. the cal men also had a rough day against crayton. they got a scare when bird hurt his ankle. he had to leave the contest. the bluejays lead from start to fen. mcdermott lead with 24 points. cal loses it 68-54 and they are now 8-4. in hawaii, unbeaten saint mary took on south carolina. after being down by as much as 12, they rallied and james walker the third ties it up at 50. the gamecocks regain the lead and never give it up. the basket and the foul and williams knocks down a big three. saint mary's loses for the first time this season 78-71

panthers win 17-13. they are in the playoffs. the 49ers have not climpled a playoff berth yet. the 49ers need to win monday night to earn another trip to the postseason. carolina'ss them a playoff berth and puts the panthers in the number two spot. raiders trying to play spoiler to the chargers. and sweep the season series. second quarter in this game, darren mcfadden. that's right, darren mcfadden, his fifth td of the year. game tied at 10-10 at the half. the chargers go up by a score. fourth quarter now. 26-13. fourth down. checks it up. in the end zone. raiders lose 26-13. here's smith, his reaction from san diego. >> reporter: progress has been hard to see as of late. the raiders offense failed to capitalize on several opportunities. meanwhile, oakland defense continues to give up explosive plays. and both sides of the ball hurt themselves with several costly penalties. >> we have an opportunity there to get off the field. and, you know, some of those penalties, the same drive for the other team. it's been like that all season long. you know, making mistakes in critical situations. that hurt our football team. >> clean up the penaltiepenalti. unfortunately t

. >> bob: new orleans seizes control of the nfc south, spotting carolina a 6-0 lead, then rolling over the panthers to win it, 31-13. game balls, well, let's hand them out. linebacker junior galette had three sacks. he'll get a game ball and his likeness on the "sunday night football" bus along with, who else? drew brees, 30 of 42, 4 touchdowns, no picks, fastest ever past 50,000 career passing yards. marques colston caught 9 of those passes, 2 of them for touchdowns. brees and colston are on the field for the post-game interview with michele. >> michele: well, drew, after losing the way you did last monday, you come back home to face the number one defense in the nfl and take control of the division. you had to have the game. so what was the mentality of this team coming in? >> we knew the challenge, especially on a short week, playing against a great divisional poept in the panthers. they had won eight in a row, so they were rolling. we wanted to hit our stride and get our swagger back. no better way than to come in the dome and do that. all three phases played exceptionally well tonight. got a g

late game, panthers/saints in the big easy. even though carolinaon eight straight, the win was straight and easy for drew brees. to marques colston, one of his two touchdowns. two minutes later to graham. brees will fast 50,000 career yards passing. fifth on the all-time list. saints cruise, 31-13, the final. >>> so the superdome, climate controlled. elsewhere not so nice. awesome to watch. the winter storm coming down hard at 1:00 kickoff. start with the snow bowl tour, vikings at ravens. not much scoring until the end this. minute and a half left, finds 41 yards for the touchdown. ensuing kickoff, just taken they had to speed this up because i didn't have enough to say. jacoby jones, 77 yards and ravens up by three, matt cassel dumps it to patterson and gets a few decent blocks. just off to the races and learn it's easier to run with a football than tackle in this weather. all right. you think that's done but it's not. joe flacco comes back and drives 80 yards capped about a touchdown pass by brown. incredible the last few minutes an win 29-26. t

it wasn't real pretty for cam newton statistically but carolina down by three against the saints, pretty enough, with that pass right there. panthersw, headed to the postseason. >>> arizona, does the unthinkable. they beat the seattle seahawks at home. snapping a 14-game winning streak at home, 17-10. >>> washington state representative joe fitzgill bon did not take the loss well. he tweeted this and then deleted it. losing a football game sucks. losing to a desert racist wasteland sucks a lot, end quote. he tweeted had he shouldn't have combined those two thoughts. yeah. >>> here's the playoff picture. afc, pats, bengals, colts, broncos, chiefs in the postseason. seahawks and panthers in the play ha playoffs. 11 are still in the hunt. >>> and let's finish with this, santa on the slopes at japan's town resort. over 100 santas got free lift tickets for that christmas couture they put on. the deal goes on until christmas eve. >>> entertainment just ahead including charlie sheen's number of choice words for "duck dynasty." you're watching "early today." >>> all right. justin and jimmy, you saw a little earlier. they brought in the hol

panthers 65 yards. hixon with the game-winning catch. 17-13 the final. carolina captures a playoff spot for the first time in five years. despite the laws, new orleans still earns a wild card berth. >>> after bro belowing a big we can last week against the packers, dallas pulled one out against washington. trailing by six late in the game. fourth and goal, tony romo steps up and finds demarco murray for the touchdown. cowboys win 24-23. they play the eagles next week with the winner going to the playoffs. >> the cal women's basketball team was hoping to pull off an upset of top ranked connecticut but the bears could not keep it close. this matchup was held at madison square garden. uconn's star sophomore landed most of the punches, scoring 21 points the first half. one more than the entire cal team. the huskies roll 80-47. stewart tied a career high with 29. cal falls to 7-3. >>> the sharks are just 4-6 this month, and it could have been worse that hey not come back from a 2-0 deficit last night against the stars. so they are now sitting in third place in a very

the panthers defense destroys the falcons qb matt ryan nine times, beating carolina 21, atlanta 20. the saints destroy the bucs 42-17. >>> cheefls at chargers. tied in the game. chiefs flub a game-winning field goal. into overtime, chargers then win with their own field goal. 27-24. >>> seahawks beat the rams 27-9. they tie a franchise record for wins and winning the nfc championship as well. the afc's denver broncos dominate as peyton manning sets the single-season passing yard average record. 5,477. and while at it, why not, 55 season tds. another record. he also led denver to break the nfl single-season points record with 606 points. all in a day's work. here's the playoff snapshot, broncos get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. nfc, seahawks get home field advantage throughout the playoffs. also in panthers, eagles, packers, my 49ers, and the saints. >>> it was pride on the line for the last vikings game at metrodome. want to talk about that, it worked. they edged the lions 14-13. minnesota gets a new dome in three years. they may not want it, though. given the team o

. >> in charlotte, the panthers looking for their eighth straight win hosting tampa bay. brandon lafell, 16 yards in the touchdown, carolinahers win 27-6. in the nba, the two time defending champion miami heat are flying below the radar, if that's possible. indiana has the best record in the league at 16-1, but the heat cruising along in the early part of the season. miami hosting the bobcats last night. lebron, they are contractually obligated to show you lebron, but chris botch was the story, finishing with 22. walker at the line, a miss and tip in a tie. walker accidentally makes the free-throw. the heat win it 99-98, winning 10 in a row. >> colorado communities are backing together to recover from the devastating floods there in september. jamestown, which is just northwest of denver was nearly destroyed. we find how residents there are bouncing back. >> the music is back, and with it, the people are slowly returning to this foot hills town in the rocky mountains. on saturday night, sips the september flood displaced residents gathered in the james town mercantile. >> once you come in here and the music's playing, you

carolina clinches the south with the win. shannon: the falcons are not cooperating. 7-0 falcons on top of the panthers.es: basketball yesterday and football today. jim: thank you, j.b. a little double dip. saw a couple of teams we might be seeing in dallas at the final four, kentucky and louisville in three months time. second and 9 here as the ravens try to take advantage of a second takeaway in the early action. the flag does come out. pitta was saying he was being held by burfict. >> he is retiring at the end of the day. being an nfl official since 1991 and larry rose also retiring after spending 17 seasons as an nfl official. great service to the league by those two gentleman. they will be missed. here is a first and 10 carry by bernard scott. he is getting some early action here with rice and pierce. what is the story here? phil: they are unhappy with the running back situation. the old motto in the nfl they block it for four yards, you have to get more than four. i think the production from the running backs, yes. the blocking hasn't been great but you have to make people miss . you have to break

panthers playing for control of the afc south. drew brees to jimmy graham. final minute, last chance for carolina. cam newton steps up in the pocket. watch the strike to ted begins. the former 49er picks up 37 yards. that is 36 more than he had all last season with san francisco. and forget the game tying field goal. newton looking for dominic. this would be his game winning touchdown and he got it. panthers beat the saints 17-13. they can clench the south and a first round bye with a win. >>> needed a win with the giants to keep playoff hopes alive. matthew stafford picked off, he's going to the house. tied the game at 20. take you to overtime. josh brown of the giants. 45 yards out. the kick is up and good. giants win 23-20. lions lose 5 of their last 6. they are eliminated from playoff contention. >>> big ben and steelers taking on the pack without aaron rodgers. the packers had enough time to drive down the field. final seconds, matt flynn looking for jerod boykin and watch how this one finishes. off his fingertips, but somehow the steelers are still alive. the packers are still alive. steeler

carolina. >> buccaneers in the third quarter. reaches over the goal line, it's a score. the panthers go on to win 27-6 to improve to nine and three on the season. caro linea red hot. eight straight games. >> a lot of good games. okay. thank you. weather is next with rebecca. >> plenty of rain on western washington much it's snow in the mountains. it comes down. we've got a bit of rain in the cascades. in the mountain passes it's been rain. it will change over to know overnight. we'll get a blast of arctic air impacting just about everybody in the northern portion of the united states. it's going to take time though to cool off the north-east, that just warmed up today. as we look at temperatures right now. we have a cool 31 for minnesota. it was a warmer 47 in new york. however, things in the 50s for the pacific north-west. we expect the temperatures to crash down. we have a storm track focussing itself on washington and oregon. it's a couple of fronts coming down, and a large low pressure system. behind all of that it will bring you the wind and the rain. then you get the arctic air

. >> reporter: in charlotte, north carolina, the rain was not nearly as deadly but sure soaked this fan at the panthers/new orleans saints game. in some places there was so much rain this was the result. streets turned into rivers in parts of illinois. and in ohio, some residents got around in kayaks instead of cars. the water got so high this woman had to be rescued by boat from her retirement village. rising water is to blame for the loss of three lives in nelson, kentucky, five people in the suv tried to cross a small bridge but the river was too much. >> it appears they tried to turn around and dropped the front edge off the front of the bridge and it just swept it away. >> reporter: two inside the suv managed to escape but could not pull the others to safety. elsewhere, like des moines, iowa, green bay, wisconsin, and wichita, kansas, it was not rain but snow that was the problem. causing horrible accidents on the roads. and there was ice, too. at this outlet mall in oklahoma city, sheets of ice slowed down holiday shoppers a bit. in upstate, new york, ice knocked out power to thousands, even furt

wild card race and two of carolina's next three games are against new orleans so they have a good shot at the division that includes next sunday night here on nbc when the panthers play at the saints. now let's bring in tony dungy from new york. tony, which nfc team impressed you most today? a lot to choose from. >> there are, bob. i have to look at the san francisco 49ers. they were playing st. louis. st. louis had been hot and the 49er defense played well as they always do. i think the big thing was getting michael crabtree back. you look at how that opened up the offense. crabtree making plays on the outside. not only the speed and everything that he brings but now just making it a little bit easier for vernon davis and anquan boldin. i was really impressed with the 49ers today. >> in the afc, if denver and new england each win out, they will own the top two seeds. indy is three games clear in the south and cincinnati two-game lead over baltimore. the race for the sixth seed figures to be tight with two teams at 6-6 and four at 5-7. so tony, although this may be an impossible question to answer, which team do you think is best positioned out of those half doz

saints and the panthers playing for control of the nfc south. 4th quarter, brees, now 15 touchdown of the year for the saints tight end. final minutes. last chance for carolina. newton, steps up, fires the strike to ted. the former 49er picks up 37 yards or 36 more than all last season with san francisco. forget the tying field goal. he is looking for dominance. going in for the game-winning touchdown. they can clinch the south and the first round bye-week next week. lions, going against them to keep their playoffs alive. stafford drops back. going to tie the game. let's go to overtime. now, brown, for new york. 45 yards out. the gig is up. the gig is up. the gig is good. 23-20, lions lose 5 of the last 6 games and are eliminated from may off contention. ben roethlisberger and the steelers taking on the packers without rodgers. the team gets the 7-point lead. the packers have enough time to drive downfield. final seconds, matt unin, looking for jarad. it is off of the fingertips. they sph-r how, some way. still alive. they win. incredible day once again in the ffl. the 49ers can win because of seattle's loss today. what it all means is that the 49ers did not

wild card race and two of carolina's next three games are against new orleans so they have a good shot at the division that includes next sunday night here on nbc when the panthers play at the saints. now let's bring in tony dungy from new york. tony, which nfc team impressed you most today? a lot to choose from. >> there are, bob. i have to look at the san francisco 49ers. they were playing st. louis. st. louis had been hot and the 49er defense played well as they always do. i think the big thing was getting michael crabtree back. you look at how that opened up the offense. crabtree making plays on the outside. not only the speed and everything that he brings but now just making it a little bit easier for vernon davis and anquan boldin. i was really impressed with the 49ers today. >> in the afc, if denver and new england each win out, they will own the top two seeds. indy is three games clear in the south and cincinnati two-game lead over baltimore. the race for the sixth seed figures to be tight with two teams at 6-6 and four at 5-7. so tony, although this may be an impossible question to answer, which team do you think is best positioned out of those half doz

panthers and saints last night down in new orleans, carolina had won eight straight.r drew brees. breeze finds marcus for the touchdown. breeze to jimmy graham. breeze passes 50,000 career passing yards putting him fifth on the all time passing list. saints cruise 31-13 lead and looking in good shape. super dome was dry, climate controlled elsewhere, a winter wonderland. storm coming down on these five cities. snowball, vikings/ravens in baltimore. not much scoring until the very end of this one. toby finds a big hole. vikings up 4 at that point. gentlem jacoby jones up. matt castle dumps it. patterson gets a few good blocks goes 79 yards for the touchdown. end of the game. that's your winner? no, sir. one more time as they go back and forth joe flacco takes his team 80 yard. great catch. getting two down. marlin brown. ravens win a wild one in baltimore. heaviest snow of the day was in philly. lions and eagles. ground crew had a tough time keeping up. tied game in the fourth quarter. eagles win 34-20, 8-5. the pole now won five consecutive games. pittsburgh steelers