Dolphins Make Johnson’s Debut Easy

Jimmy Johnson said the Miami Dolphins would succeed this season by running the ball and relying on rookies.

So far he’s right.

The Dolphins were both good and lucky Sunday in the first game under their new coach, dominating time of possession and scoring twice on fumble recoveries to beat the New England Patriots, 24-10.

Several of Johnson’s 10 rookies had big days. Karim Abdul-Jabbar rushed for 115 yards in 26 carries, fullback Stanley Pritchett caught six passes and blocked well, and middle linebacker Zach Thomas had nine tackles and a sack.

But the biggest Dolphin debut was made by Johnson, coaching his first game since leading the Dallas Cowboys to the 1994 Super Bowl title.

“It was a good way to start,” Johnson said. “I got a little nervous Saturday night and today. Every time I turned on the TV or read the paper, everyone was picking New England. Nobody was picking Miami. It was a little different feeling.”

For New England, the loss followed encouraging victories in the final three exhibition games.

“We were the unbeatable Patriots,” linebacker Chris Slade said. “Now we’re the bad Patriots.”

The opener drew a sellout crowd of 71,542. Former coach Don Shula declined to attend, making it the first Miami game he has missed since 1969.

Dolphin safety Sean Hill and receiver Scott Miller scored when they recovered fumbles by teammates, and new kicker Joe Nedney made a 34-yard field goal. Abdul-Jabbar added a three-yard touchdown run while becoming the first Miami rookie to rush for 100 yards since Sammie Smith in 1989.

“We couldn’t stop him,” Patriot linebacker Ted Johnson said.

“I hope we can go out and do this every week,” Abdul-Jabbar said.

Among the holdovers from the Shula era, Dan Marino began his 14th NFL season by completing 16 of 22 passes for 176 yards. He led an offense that controlled the ball for 36 minutes.

“It’s nice we were able to run the ball with consistency,” Marino said. “There will be times when we won’t be able to do that. We need to make sure we have a well-rounded offense.”

A revamped Dolphin defense scored the first touchdown, forced four turnovers and limited last year’s AFC rushing leader, Curtis Martin, to 23 yards in 11 carries.

“That’s saying something, because he’s an outstanding back,” Johnson said. “Our guys gave a tremendous effort. They were flying around and making plays.”

New England’s Drew Bledsoe completed 19 of 38 passes for 222 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions. He was sacked four times.

“That wasn’t much fun,” Bledsoe mumbled. “We expected to play a lot better.”

Said New England Coach Bill Parcells: “We got whipped very soundly. That wasn’t our best effort. As I told the players, if it is, then we’re in trouble.”

The Dolphin defense registered the first score four minutes into the game. Safety Louis Oliver returned an interception 60 yards before fumbling when he was tackled. The ball bounced into the hands of Hill trailing the play, and he ran the final 10 yards for the score.

With a 17-3 lead at halftime, Miami drove deep into New England territory to start the second half when Pritchett fumbled a reception at the goal line following a 15-yard gain. The ball squirted into Miller’s hands in the end zone for the score and a 24-3 lead.

Ben Coates scored New England’s only touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Bledsoe.