Dickerson Sits Out, and Colts Lose to Dolphins

Eric Dickerson sat, Sammie Smith ran and the Miami Dolphins won.

Smith, a rookie out of Florida State, had the Dolphins’ first 100-yard rushing day since 1987 as they capitalized on Dickerson’s absence Sunday to beat the Indianapolis Colts, 19-13.

Dickerson, in uniform except for a cap and sunglasses, did not play because of a nagging injury to his right hamstring. His replacement at running back, Albert Bentley, carried 21 times for 73 yards.

Smith, the Dolphins’ top draft choice last April, carried 25 times for 123 yards and was instrumental in touchdown drives of 70 and 80 yards that consumed more than six minutes each.

The Dolphins (5-4), who have won four of their past five games, took sole possession of second place in the AFC East behind Buffalo (6-3). The victory was the Dolphins’ first at home against an AFC East team since December 1987, and they’ve now won two of their past 14 intradivisional games.

Indianapolis, which had beaten Miami three times in a row, fell to 4-5.

Dan Marino capped Miami’s touchdown drives with scoring passes of 13 yards to Mark Clayton and 10 yards to Andre Brown. Marino completed 14 of 26 passes for 149 yards and avoided throwing an interception for the first time this season.

Miami had more yards rushing (159) than passing in a non-strike game for the first time since 1985.

Coach Don Shula said he was pleased with the offensive balance.

“You’ve got to have that,” he said. “I’ve been talking about that for the last two or three years, and we haven’t done it. With Sammie, we just have to give him a chance to show what he can do.”

The Colts drove 71 yards to score when Andre Rison turned a pass from Jack Trudeau into a seven-yard touchdown with 1:42 left. But Indianapolis Coach Ron Meyer decided against trying an onside kick, and Miami got a first down and ran out the clock.

“I made that decision because I thought a lot of positive things could occur for us at that end of the field,” Meyer said.

“The onside kick is just one shot, and if you don’t get it, you lose the ballgame. But looking back, I wish I had the decision to do over again.”