surprised everybody. and the packers, a two-touchdown underdog led much of the way and very nearly pulled off a huge upset tonight. but after their defeat, let's look at the playoff picture. we'll start in the afc. the patriots with the win tonight are on track for the number one seed and home field throughout the playoffs. they have clinched the playoff berth but need a win or a jet loss to win the east. the steelers, despite losing today clinch the playoff spot. kansas city is 9-5, a game ahead of san diego and the chargers need help. the colts now control the afc south after beating jacksonville today. both the ravens and jets look good. over to the nfc. atlanta holds the top spot. they have clinched the playoff beth and they will clinch the south and homefield throughout with one more victory. philadelphia is in great shape to win the east after sweeping the giants and they have their sights set on the number one

seed and the by that goes with it. chicago has a tough schedule but benefits from green bay's loss tonight. rams hold the tie-breaker for now, but of course the two play that concludes the season in weak 17 in seattle and the niners are still alive. one of them will win the nfc west and thus will host a wild card game. go figure. the saints also in good shape and the giants after today's meltdown against philadelphia have a huge game in green bay next week. the patriots young heroes are down on the field with andrea kremer. >> andrea: thank you very much, bob. kyle arrington, what was the last drive like? >> oh, man. it was crazy. you know, the crowd, everybody was so loud. the stadium was rocking. we needed to make a play. you know, we needed a hit the whole game.

we stepped up at the end. that's all that matter ed >> andrea: going against a young quarterback how did you get the return for the touchdown? >> these receivers are talented. jennings beat me on the inside for a touchdown. i said, the next inside run that's coming i'm going for it. you know? flynn threw it right place, right time. >> andrea: thank you very much. aaron hernandez, two touchdowns tonight. not the kind of easy offensive game you guys have become used to the past couple. what were they doing defensively? how were you able to overcome it? >> we knew they were a great defense. we came in as prepared as any other team. they were a bump in the road and we had to overcome it. defense stuck it out and it worked. >> andrea: who would have thought the offensive hero, so to speak, may have been dan connolly with a 71-yard return. what did you say on the sidelines?

>> he looked faster than i looked. we may need to put him back there more often. >> andrea: thanks for your time. merry christmas. >> thank you very much, andrea. when was the last time you saw anybody hold a football the way dan connolly lugged it pressed to his chest. let's check in with tony dungy in new york. your reaction to packers/patriots? yeah, the pats win which we expected. we didn't expect it to be this difficult. >> no. we were joking in the prebecame. tom brady versus matt flynn, flynn played very well. but it did come down in the fourth quarter that tom brady just surgical and matt flynn making a couple of errors that cost those guys. it was a great job by mike mccarthy and his staff getting green bay ready to play a game like this and get to the point where they had a chance to win at the end. >> al: the giants suffered an epic loss today. the eagles scoring four

touchdowns in the final 7:30 of regulation to win it. how does tom coughlin bring the giants back after a defeat like this when they have to go to green bay for a game that could determine their playoff fate? >> this loss by green bay helps tom coughlin. he has to go into the meeting tomorrow and say, hey, we blew a game at home. here's where we are, guys. we go to green bay and if we win the game, we are in the playoffs. let's take a look. forget about the meltdown we had. look at the good things we did. we got three touchdowns ahead of philadelphia who's a good team. we put pressure on the quarterback, ran the ball well. eli threw well. those are things we have to do to go to green bay and win. that's how he has to get the team ready. >> thank you very much. we'll talk to you the day after christmas in philadelphia. now to mike florio on nbcsports.com. somehow we are first with the scoop. mike signed a long-term extension with nbc.

how we got the information, i don't know. but mike will be a fixture for years to come. my question to you, sir, staying with the giants and this is a difficult question to pose because tom coughlin is a super bowl-winning coach, a proven very good coach and a good man. suppose everything falls apart and after a loss like today sit possible that coughlin's job could be in jeopardy? >> i think it is. tom coughlin is under contract for one more year. the giants have to make a decision. do we sign him to an extension or missouove on? with bill cower making noise that he's ready to coach at the nfl level, i think if the giants don't make the playoffs the giants could move in that direction with coughlin out and possibly bill power in. >> tomorrow the vikings host the bears in a game with playoff implications at the university of minnesota stadium.

the metrodome not ready after the roof collapsed a week ago. there are now questions about the field conditions. what's the latest on that? testimo >> the vikings had a walk-through practice and the punter put on twitter multiple concerns about potential safety issues at the field. every other cold weather stadium in the nfl has a heating system to keep the field ready to go. at the university of minnesota, they only play into november. they don't have a heating system. they are trying to heat the field externally, but once they stop, will the field be frozen tomorrow night? some bears players are concerned about concussions if their helmets hit the turf. the vikings are ready to go. let's see what happens. >> we begin with austin collie, third time this year with a concussion for the colts. >> he missed multiple games

before this one. there is no word on when he'll be back. we saw how cautious the doctors were with aaron rodgers and the packers. we'll see when he returns. terrell owens is done for the year with a left knee injury. most likely done in cincinnati. probably someone will give him another chance. he's going strong. nate allen, the star rookie safety is out for the year with a torn patella tendon in the knee. >> thank you very much. folks, don't forget, you can check out more from mike tonight and for years to come, we learned tonight w his pro football monday ten pack. the latest news and notes on nbcsports.com. back to al and chris to wrap up from foxboro after this. to introduce wendy's natural-cut fries with sea salt, we've set up a human chain from coast to coast... so taste our best fries ever, and pass 'em on! pass 'em on. share the news! we only use whole russet potatoes and sprinkle 'em

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>> al: exciting, dramatic game tonight in foxboro. matt flynn, first career start. three touchdown passes. tom brady with a little bit of luck. 292 now straight without an interception. a couple were tipped. we'll never forget that connolly runback of 71 yards. hernandez with two touchdowns. the rookie has a big night. new england goes to 12-2, best in the conference. green bay goes to 8-6. we'll see if they can make the playoffs. they have the giants next week. footballpros.com with cris collinsworth. plenty to talk about after the game. to sum it up, so many things to talk about. the patriots figured out a way to win. connolly's run back, defense, arrington with an interception return but the inexperience of flynn rears its ugly head at the end. >> the clock management was awful at the end for the packers. that will be part of the story of this one. i think the fact that matt flynn was able to come in and perform

the way he did was stunning. it also makes you consider a little bit because the patriots are considered the favorite for the super bowl. you know, is their defense ultimately going to be good enough to win it all? you know, for matt flynn to come in and pick them apart at home will raise questions. >> al: who knows. the folks in atlanta must be thrilled. we never talk about the falcons because they haven't been on the schedule. but atlanta playing extremely well. we'll see the eagles next week. you have mike vick. what a comeback. who can believe what happened at the meadowlands? >> cris: legendary. >> al: that's it? >> cris: that's it. got to go log on. >> al: he should sign a longer contract than florio. 31-27 is the final score tonight in foxboro, massachusetts, as we

wrap up week 15 of the nfl schedule. have a merry christmas. on saturday we'll talk to you on have a merry christmas. on saturday we'll talk to you on sunday from philly. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com [captioning made possible by constellation energy group] captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> the baltimore city fire department it -- fire department will and 2010 under budget. good evening. the most immediate impact, instead of three rotating closures, the first city department will only close two

fire stations a day for the next year. >> the city fire department finished about $250,000 under budget. they are using the savings to keep other companies open. since the implementation of rotating company closures, city firefighters have expressed their concerns. >> the domino effect of this company being closed has had an affect on different responses. >> in addition to these rotating closures, the city has had to make other drastic cuts. >> they have not been able to order a new apparatus. there has been a savings there. we are going to pay for that later. >> because of their penny pinching, city fire finished about a quarter million dollars under budget. he used the savings to pay for

overtime for extra staff in the company. now closures will pay for two closures a day instead of three. >> their response time has fallen below national standards since they started rotating closures. the city fire department hopes that this will improve fire department safety and response time. >> we started falling further and further away from that standard. this will start us climbing towards the goal of meeting that standard. >> the mayor's office released the following statement. the mayor supports the efforts to maximize the budget and provide the best service possible to the city of baltimore. this is in addition to efforts to reduce these closures. members are hopeful that the

budget will get better. they say that these changes are a step in the positive direction. >> in other news, the death of a woman whose body was found in plastic has been ruled a homicide. the victim has been identified inside of her home on 29 street on saturday afternoon. police initially called the death suspicious. tonight, they are calling it a homicide. as of now, there is no motive or suspects in this case. in anne arundel county, police are dealing with several murders. a food delivery man was found stabbed to death. the other murder happened outside of mcdonald's in glen burnie. a 39-year-old man has been arrested and charged. baltimore police continue to look into who struck three

people including two children. that happened on eastern boulevard yesterday. none of the injuries are believed to be life-threatening. police are asking anyone who may have been in the area to give them a call. >> where we said we are starting this process, just like in iraq, we are starting in july, 2011. we are going to be totally out of there by 2014. >> joe biden on the war in afghanistan on the "meet the press." he reiterated that troops will leave afghanistan this summer. many in washington are still he did over president obama's compromise with republicans, which led to the passing of tax cuts. the vice-president biden spoke about that issue. he spoke about the tax cuts and

defended the administration. >> we got to the end. we cannot get it done. we had to make a decision. were we going to let the middle class tax cuts and expired? it got to the united states senate. we supported the provision. the senate could not pass it. do we let those people going to bed staring at the ceiling wondering what they're going to be there next month, 7 million more people are losing it next month and economics -- uncertainty occur. life is a matter of tough choices. >> everyone's taxes would have gone up on january 1 had that not have been passed. the holiday rush was on. holidays shoppers were out in force. here he is with more.

>> how are you? >> if you noticed the main streets and the malls are busier this holiday season, you are not alone. across the country, shoppers are out in droves. >> i need cash. i am spending more than anticipated than spending. at tyson's corner they are buying, but they are buying smart. >> by them either one big gift or something personal. >> in prior years, they were more need based. people want to have fun again this year. >> retail sales have exceeded expectations. the national retail sales have increased 3.4% and it is being driven by consumer confidence. the federation says that the floodgates have opened, at least

a little. consumers are opening their wallets. they are buying clothing. sales of clothing is up. jewry sales, up 2.6%. jewelry sales have increased 2.3%. many are for going the mall for on-line shopping. e-commerce is up 13.5%. >> we might be more likely to keep these buyers. >> even on a cold sunday in the windy city, there are plenty of shoppers and shopping bags along the magnificent mile. after a hard recession that put the american consumer on the endangered species list, this christmas, the shopper appears to be back. >> the latest on the deadly explosion in mexico after this

break. an american tourist found murdered in israel. those stories and much more on the ravens bay gwynn. we will have a check on the very cold, but very fun pre-game festivities. >> we do have a little bit of snow in the seven-day forecast. mostly clear skies right now. 26

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>> the death toll has risen to 27 in mexico tonight. more than 100 homes have been destroyed. 12 of the dead are believed to be children. the blast was caused by thieves trying to steal crude oil. in israel, police have found the body of an american tourist on the road outside of jerusalem. the woman's home town is not being released yet and has not yet been identified. police found the body of logan. her and her tour guide were touring a city near jerusalem. she was found by passing families who was found with her hands bound and with several

stab wounds in her chest and back. she and logan were attacked by two arab speaking men. she escaped only after pretending she was dead. hundred spent the night and volunteer looking for logan until they found her body hidden behind rocks and bushes. >> police and israeli army units are on a massive manhunt. their private twin-engine airplane crashed near a famous swiss ski resort. the two were the only ones in the plane. investigators are trying to determine if the plane hit power lines. the rest of europe continues to be blanketed in snow. it is making for a very pretty pictures of famous landmarks. it is making travel a nightmare. flights have been delayed or canceled all we can. canceled all we can.