NBC Sports Exec Injured in Colo. Jet Crash

NBC Sports Chairman and President Dick Ebersol survived a charter plane crash that killed at least two people Sunday, NBC said in a statement through its Denver affiliate KUSA-TV.

A's, Pirates officially complete Kendall trade

Jason Kendall was traded Saturday from Pittsburgh to Oakland, giving the Athletics one of baseball's best top-of-the-lineup hitters and most durable catchers and partly freeing the Pirates of their biggest financial burden. The Pirates get left-handers Mark Redman and Arthur Rhodes.

Pittsburgh 16, Washington 7

PITTSBURGH -- The Washington Redskins only wish they were getting as much offense from their starters as the streaking Pittsburgh Steelers are from their backups.

Antwaan Randle El, making only his second NFL start at receiver, took care of the big plays and Jerome Bettis again handled the short yardage in his fourth consecutive 100-yard game off the bench to lead the Steelers past Washington 16-7 Sunday.

The Steelers' nine-game winning streak is their longest since they won their final nine in 1976. They are 10-1 for the first time since 1975, the second of their four Super Bowl championship seasons.

``We're 10-1, and that would have been hard to picture,'' guard Alan Faneca said. ``We've got a nice little thing going right now.''

Just like those Steel Curtain days of the 1970s, the Steelers are increasingly relying on the NFL's top-ranked defense as opponents come up with ways to contain unbeaten quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

The rookie had his second straight low-production game (9-of-20, 131 yards, four sacks) while constantly sidestepping Washington's pass rush, but it hardly made any difference even as Pittsburgh was held to 207 yards.

Randle El scampered through the Redskins' coverage team on punt returns of 60 and 43 yards to set up two first-half scores -- Bettis' 4-yard touchdown run, his 11th of the season, and the first of Jeff Reed's three field goals on a blustery day.

Randle El, making a spot start for the injured Plaxico Burress (hamstring), also made two catches for 37 yards and drew a 32-yard pass interference penalty.

``You need every guy,'' Randle El said. ``I don't care if you are the big star, if you don't have the rest of the guys doing what they are supposed to be doing it makes it hard. Special teams came up big, and we need to keep it going because sometimes the offense may sputter.''

Bettis started when Duce Staley unexpectedly sat out a fourth straight game with a sore hamstring, and responded with 100 yards on 31 carries. His 47th career 100-yard game matches Franco Harris' team record.

``I'm a mudder, so this was my weather,'' said Bettis, who last had four consecutive 100-yard games in 2001. ``It was a tough day -- they have the No. 2 defense in the league and you can see why -- but I'm a big guy and I always feel I can wear a defense down in the second half.''

The Redskins (3-8), headed for one of the lowest-scoring seasons in NFL history, were held to 156 yards and to single-digit scoring for a second consecutive game, following up a 28-6 loss to Philadelphia. They haven't scored more than 18 points in a game this season.

``One of our goals is to score 21 points,'' quarterback Patrick Ramsey said. ``We've got to do that.''

Washington was held to 50 yards as Pittsburgh opened a 13-0 lead in the first half.

``It's very tough to make yards on them; they're one of best defenses I've been against,'' Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. ``It was a little bit of us and a little bit of them. We hurt ourselves by dropping some balls and not executing.''

With star running back Clinton Portis sitting out most of the second half, the Redskins drove 79 yards in 13 plays early in the third quarter for Ramsey's 2-yard scoring pass to Chris Cooley on fourth-and-goal, cutting it to 13-7.

Portis, among the NFL's rushing leaders with 945 yards and coming off consecutive 1,500-yard seasons for Denver, had only six carries for 17 yards. He has just 54 yards the last two weeks.

``We felt our best way to get it downfield (was to throw),'' Gibbs said. ``I am sure he will be upset about it. I expect him to be. He is very competitive.''

Portis said, ``I'm not in Denver anymore, I'm in Washington, I have to find a way to be a key player in this system, the same way I was there.''

Notes

Roethlisberger won his 22nd consecutive start -- his first nine in the NFL and his last 13 at Miami of Ohio. ... Roethlisberger's nine victories equal the most by any rookie QB in a season, tying Joe Ferguson (Bills, 1973) and Chris Chandler (Colts, 1988). ... Pittsburgh has allowed only 209 yards rushing in its last five games. ... The Redskins' worst previous 11-game record under Gibbs was 5-6 in 1989, when they rebounded to finish 10-6. ... The Steelers have 36 sacks, one more than last season. ... The Steelers won a team record 11 straight in 1975.

Alpine Skiing: Super-G Win Puts Miller in Exclusive Club

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta - American Bode Miller blitzed to victory in a World Cup super-G on Sunday, completing a weekend of career firsts to earn a place among Alpine skiing's all-time greats.

A day after claiming his first career downhill triumph, Miller returned to the Olympic course to capture his first super-G, becoming just the fifth skier to register wins in all four Alpine disciplines.

Miller becomes a member of one of the World Cup's most exclusive clubs, joining Switzerland's Pirmin Zurbriggen, Luxembourg's Marc Girardelli, Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt and Austria's Guenther Mader as the only men to win a slalom, giant slalom, super-G and downhill as well as a combined event.

It was also the third consecutive victory for Miller, who launched his bid to become the first American to win the overall title since Phil Mahre in 1983 by winning the season-opening giant slalom in Austria.

"To move into that group of ski racers who have won four events is the most exclusive club in the world," said Miller, the first man ever to win the opening three World Cup races in different disciplines.

"I've had to battle through criticism, there's been a lot of negative energy because of my persistence to ski four events. It makes it sweet to have that fourth event win.

"I didn't have as high expectations for myself coming into these races. Usually I have pretty high expectations for myself, so it's nice to surprise yourself once in a while."

In another display of aggressive yet controlled skiing, Miller turned in a near-perfect run but had an anxious wait in the finish area for defending overall champion Hermann Maier to barge out of the start hut 16 racers later.

Gritting his teeth, the Austrian Olympic champion charged down the sun-kissed course but once again could not match his American rival's time of one minute 28.18 seconds to complete a frustrating weekend that included a sixth in the downhill.

"Today it was very close but I don't have the confidence right now," said Maier, who finished 0.14 seconds behind Miller. "I have to find the right feeling."

Michael Walchhofer was third, 0.41 seconds further back, but it was still a disappointing weekend in the Canadian Rockies for the Austrians, who had won every race staged at the resort since the events were moved here from Whistler, B.C. in 1999.

The lack of wins will increase the pressure on the Austrian team as the circuit moves to Beaver Creek for four races starting on Thursday.

It's a Girl, and a Boy, for Julia Roberts

LOS ANGELES - It's a girl — and a boy — for actress Julia Roberts and her husband, cinematographer Danny Moder. Roberts gave birth to twins Hazel Patricia Moder and Phinnaeus Walter Moder on Sunday morning at a Southern California hospital, publicist Marcy Engelman said Sunday.

Roberts, 37, was confined to bed last month after experiencing a series of early contractions and wasn't due until early January. Engelman said Sunday in a phone interview that "mother and babies are doing great," but didn't release the twins' weights or other details.

Roberts, who skyrocketed to fame with "Pretty Woman" in 1990, has two films coming out in early December — Mike Nichols' "Closer" and "Ocean's Twelve," the Steven Soderbergh-directed sequel to 2001's star-studded heist caper.

Roberts married Moder in July 2002 at her home in Taos, N.M. The twins are the first children for Roberts, who won the best actress Oscar in 2001 for "Erin Brockovich."