PRO FOOTBALL : Colts Use That Extra Horsepower to Leave Oilers in Dust, 51-27

Remember that joke about the Indianapolis Colts having a Rolls Royce and a Bentley in their backfield? Well the Colts are getting the last laugh.

Eric Dickerson and Albert Bentley each scored two touchdowns Sunday as the Colts overpowered the Houston Oilers, 51-27, Sunday to remain in a tie for first place in the AFC East.

“I’ve said all along that I consider both Dickerson and Bentley as starting players,” Colt Coach Ron Meyer said. Bentley scored on touchdown pass plays of 72 and 22 yards and rushed for 64 yards in 8 carries.

“It was just momentum,” Bentley said of the scoring swing from last week’s 24-0 loss at New England. “This week, we were not distracted and we didn’t make mistakes. Last week, we came out and made a lot of mistakes.”

Dickerson ran into the Colts’ record book with 136 yards in 27 carries, including touchdowns of 19 and 13 yards. Dickerson topped the century mark for the fourth consecutive game, all the games he’s played since his trade from the Rams, breaking the club mark of three straight, set in 1975 by Lydell Mitchell.

“They were overaggressive on defense,” Dickerson, who gained 149 yards against Houston in this year’s season opener while playing for the Rams. “They were coming after me. I had heard they said I wouldn’t get 100 yards against them.”

The Colts helped themselves with five turnovers, including three fumble recoveries that gave them a league-leading 20.

The Colts recovered two Houston fumbles in jumping to a 28-10 halftime lead on the touchdowns by Bentley and Dickerson.

“We didn’t think that they could stop us, but we found a way to stop ourselves,” said Houston Coach Jerry Glanville.

Houston (6-5) trailed, 31-17, after Warren Moon’s seven-yard scoring pass to Jamie Williams with 2:27 left in the third quarter. The Oilers drew closer on a 44-yard field goal by Tony Zendejas, but the score was matched by Dean Biasucci’s 45-yard field goal after the Colts recovered a fumbled punt.

Then Dickerson took the ball 29 yards to the Oilers’ 9 and 2 plays later Jack Trudeau threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Matt Bouza.