HOUSTON — Pro Bowl receiver DeAndre Hopkins couldn’t quit smiling Sunday after the Houston Texans’ 34-24 exhibition victory over the Arizona Cardinals.
He’s beginning to see just how good this offense can be now that new quarterback Brock Osweiler is settling into his role.
“The mindset that we have when we go out there is that we can’t be stopped and today kind of showed that,” Hopkins said.
Osweiler threw for 146 yards and a touchdown and Houston intercepted two of Carson Palmer’s passes. Osweiler led the Texans to scores on three of his four drives. He connected with Fuller on a 26-yard touchdown pass that extended Houston’s lead to 24-10 before sitting down with about three minutes left in the first half.
It was Osweiler’s second successful outing after he and Houston’s starting offense struggled in the team’s first preseason game.
“We’re constantly improving, we’re fixing mistakes and we’re getting better each week,” Osweiler said. “That’s really what you want to see at this point in time.”
While Osweiler was solid, Houston’s starting defense starred. Andre Hall intercepted Palmer’s second pass of the day to set up Houston’s first score, a 1-yard touchdown run by new running back Lamar Miller.
Palmer’s second drive was his only clean one, and it ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by David Johnson.
On Arizona’s next possession, linebacker John Simon tipped a pass by Palmer, intercepted it and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown. It was the second consecutive game in which Palmer had an interception returned for a touchdown after Brandon Flowers did it in last week in a 9-3 loss at San Diego.
“It’s easy to evaluate that game: it’s just called turnovers,” Arizona Coach Bruce Arians said.
Palmer attempted to tackle Simon after the interception and was tackled by 305-pound defensive end Devon Still, a hit that knocked the quarterback’s helmet off. Arians had seen enough after that hit, and Palmer was replaced by Drew Stanton.
Palmer chipped a tooth on the play.
VIKINGS 23, CHARGERS 10
MINNEAPOLIS — Teddy Bridgewater was sharp in his return from a sore arm, completing 12 of 16 passes for 161 yards and a touchdown in the first half for the Minnesota Vikings in an exhibition victory over the San Diego Chargers in the official unveiling of their new stadium.
After sitting out last week, Bridgewater found Kyle Rudolph for a 27-yard score to cap a crisp two-minute drill and led the Vikings to points on three of five possessions. Bridgewater even juked strong safety Adrian Phillips on a 22-yard run that set up one of three field goals by Blair Walsh. Melvin Gordon, aiming to rebound from a rough rookie season, cruised through the middle of Minnesota’s starting defense for a 39-yard touchdown after Philip Rivers audibled to a run upon sensing a blitz. San Diego lost running back Branden Oliver, though, to an Achilles tendon injury on his right leg that required a cart to take him off. The loss of Oliver, the primary kickoff returner and a contributing backup behind Gordon and Danny Woodhead, left the Chargers in a somber mood.
“I went up there as a friend and just prayed for him,” Woodhead said. “That’s the only thing you can do in that situation.”
With sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling glass on the west side and through the translucent, space-age roof, the Vikings enjoyed a gleaming debut for U.S. Bank Stadium in front of a soldout crowd of 66,143.
Rivers went 5 for 9 for 54 yards and an interception for the Chargers.
With Adrian Peterson resting on the sideline, Jerick McKinnon rushed eight times for 56 yards for the Vikings.
JAGUARS 26, BENGALS 21
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Cincinnati Bengals were so sharp against Jacksonville that Andy Dalton and several teammates were done long before halftime. Dalton led the Bengals to two touchdowns in three possessions, earning him a little extra rest in a loss to the Jaguars. Dalton found Giovani Bernard for a 19-yard score on a third-down play, and then Jeremy Hill capped a 9-minute drive with a 1-yard scramble to the pylon. Defensively, the Bengals held Jacksonville to just 90 yards in the first half. Jacksonville’s first three drives went turnover, three-and-out and three-and-out.
Receiver A.J. Green left in the first quarter with a bruised right knee, but the team said it was nothing serious and he should be fine for the opener. Cornerback Adam Jones strained a calf in preseason warmups and did not play.
Sports on 08/29/2016