Dickerson Celebrates Anniversary, Scores 4 Times in 55-23 Colt Win

INDIANAPOLIS —  On a night when much of the Halloween crowd was dressed in costume, Eric Dickerson came as Superman.

Dickerson rushed for 159 yards and 4 touchdowns Monday night despite sitting out much of the second half as the Indianapolis Colts trounced the Denver Broncos, 55-23.

“I think I had a good game,” Dickerson said. “I think as a team we had a good game. The offensive line blocked well. We started running at them and they couldn’t stop it, so we kept running.”

Dickerson, the National Football League rushing leader, rushed 21 times. He had 124 yards in the first half and scored on runs of 12, 12, 1 and 41 yards as the Colts (4-5) built a 45-10 halftime lead.

The Colts fell 4 points short of the NFL record for most points in a half held by Chicago against Philadelphia in 1941 and Green Bay in 1983 against Tampa Bay.

Dickerson raised his season total to 1,038 yards, joining Franco Harris and Walter Payton for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, 6. Dickerson, however, became the first to do it in his first 6 years in the league.

“We could have padded it,” Indianapolis Coach Ron Meyer said. “But we didn’t want it, Eric didn’t want it. It was a good solid victory.

“The defense played well enough a game to create turnovers and the offense took advantage of them. Unfortunately, I’ve been on the other side of these games, and when it happens, it’s tough.”

The Colts, scoring on 7 of their 9 possessions, forced 4 fumbles, sacked John Elway 3 times and didn’t let Denver (4-5) cross midfield until its seventh possession, 5 minutes into the second quarter.

By that time, Indianapolis led, 31-0, on Dickerson’s 4 touchdowns and the first of 2 field goals by Dean Biasucci.

The Colts gained 244 yards on the ground against the worst rushing defense in the league.

“I wish I had some answers,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “This is as low as I’ve been since I’ve been in Denver. There’s not really a lot I can say. The Colts had an excellent game plan that helped them to get on top early.

“For the last couple of years, we have been on top in the AFC. Now we get to see what it is like to go through some difficult times. We could do nothing to stop Dickerson. He was outstanding.”

Quarterback Gary Hogeboom, replacing starter Chris Chandler whenever the Colts went to a wishbone offense, connected on a 53-yard touchdown pass play to Bill Brooks in the second quarter. Biasucci got another field goal in the third quarter, and Albert Bentley rushed for a fourth-quarter touchdown as Indianapolis scored the most points ever in a Monday night game.

Dickerson, who came to Indianapolis in a trade with the Rams on Halloween last year, broke the Colts’ record of 3 rushing touchdowns he had shared with Alan Ameche, Lenny Moore, Tom Matte, Don McCauley and Randy McMillan.

Denver finally scored on Elway’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Steve Sewell, after Elway connected on pass plays of 23 yards to Vance Johnson and 45 yards to Mark Jackson.

Rich Karlis added a 27-yard field goal a minute before halftime, but the Colts countered immediately. Bentley returned the kickoff 40 yards to the 45, then Chandler passed 15 yards to Matt Bouza and 40 yards to Clarence Verdin for a touchdown.

Denver’s last 2 touchdowns came in the final 6 minutes on passes from backup quarterback Gary Kubiak of 7 yards to Vance Johnson and 48 yards to Sewell.

Chandler finished 10 of 13 for 167 yards, and Hogeboon’s only completion in two attempts was the 53-yard touchdown play.

Elway, still hobbling from an ankle injury that kept him out of last week’s loss to Pittsburgh, completed 15 of 27 for 158 yards.