HOUSTON – Brock Osweiler threw for 146 yards and a touchdown and Houston intercepted two of Carson Palmer’s passes in the Texans’ 34-24 exhibition victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

Osweiler led the Texans to scores on three of his four drives. He connected with first-round pick Will 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. The expectations for Osweiler are high after the Texans signed Peyton Manning’s former backup to a $72 million contract this offseason.

While Osweiler was solid, Houston’s starting defense starred. Andre Hal 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.

Bridgewater, Vikings beat Chargers 23-10 in stadium opener

Vikings 23, Chargers 10

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 Minnesota in a 23-10 exhibition victory over San Diego in the official unveiling their new stadium in Minneapolis.

After sitting out last week, Bridgewater found Kyle Rudolph for a 27-yard score to cap a crisp 2-minute drill and led the Vikings to points on three of five possessions. Bridgewater even juked strong safety Adrian Phillips to further a 22-yard run that set up one of three field goals by Blair Walsh.

“The shoulder’s feeling great,” Bridgewater said. “I had some fun out there playing with the guys, and I can’t wait to get back out there.”

Jaguars 26, Bengals 21

The Cincinnati Bengals were so sharp against Jacksonville that Andy Dalton and several teammates were done long before halftime.

Dalton led the visiting Bengals to two touchdowns in three possessions, earning him a little extra rest in a 26-21 loss to the Jaguars in the preseason.

“It was a good outing for us,” Dalton said. “Two touchdowns in the first half of a preseason game is pretty good, and we got them both ways. … It’s a good feeling to do it both ways.”

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.

Cruz returns for Giants

Victor Cruz really didn’t care about his statistics after the Giants played the Jets in their annual preseason game.

The line for the 29-year-old wide receiver read: 32 plays, targeted on two passes, with one reception for 4 yards.

It was unproductive, yet Cruz could not help but smile after the Giants’ 21-20 win on Saturday night.

Cruz had played in a game for the first time since the 2014 season, and that’s all that mattered to the wideout who was one of the NFL’s most feared receivers from 2011-13. The knee injury that ended the ‘14 season and a calf problem that sidelined him last year were things of the past.

Even the crowd at MetLife Stadium was into his return, chanting “Cruzzzz.”

“It was unreal,” Cruz said. “It kind of gave me goosebumps.”

Falcons ink safety Goldson

The Atlanta Falcons signed veteran free-agent safety Dashon Goldson on Sunday.

The Falcons will be without rookie starting strong safety Keanu Neal, the first-round pick, for at least the first two regular-season games with a right knee injury. He will have arthroscopic surgery on Monday.

Coach Dan Quinn has said that backup Kemal Ishmael would fill in for Neal as the starting strong safety.

Goldson, a 2012 All-Pro with the 49ers, had 110 tackles in 15 starts with the Redskins in 2015. He spent his first six seasons with San Francisco and played with Tampa Bay in 2013-14.