NFL capsules: Brian Hoyer has stellar half for 49ers, before 32-31 Vikings rally

Brian Hoyer had the San Francisco offense humming after sputtering through the first two preseason games, passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns in the first half before the Minnesota Vikings rallied for a 32-31 victory over the 49ers on Sunday night in Minneapolis.

Sam Bradford and the Minnesota starters again failed to reach the end zone, though Bradford was sharp when given time to throw. Jerick McKinnon scored on a 108-yard kickoff return in the third quarter, boosting his bid to take over that role.

Backup quarterbacks Case Keenum and Taylor Heinicke led a late charge, with Heinicke’s hurdle over the pylon for the 2-point conversion on the final play giving the Vikings the win after Terrell Newby’s touchdown run with no time left.

Hoyer found Marquise Goodwin wide open for a 46-yard touchdown strike and Carlos Hyde out of the backfield for a 24-yard connection, some evidence of how new coach Kyle Shanahan’s scheme could pick up the pace after the 49ers were one of the league’s lowest-scoring teams the last three years.

Goodwin, the former Olympic long jumper who had the fastest 40-yard dash time at the 2013 NFL combine, ought to help. Injuries buried him in Buffalo.

The backups were buzzing, too, with an 87-yard score by Raheem Mostert off a screen pass from C.J. Beathard on third-and-22 in the third quarter and a short touchdown run by Mostert in the fourth quarter.

An unchallenged starter for the first time in his nine-year career, Hoyer finished 12 for 17 with a 143.3 passer rating. He completed his first nine passes. Beathard took another step toward solidifying himself as the backup, too, despite having a pass picked off by Antone Exum.

The depth chart behind Hyde at running back is wide open, with Mostert (130 yards, six touches) and rookie Matt Breida (34 yards, eight touches) standing out.

With left tackle Riley Reiff, running back Latavius Murray and wide receiver Laquon Treadwell all playing their first preseason game, Bradford and the Vikings were close to full strength. But the protection was again problematic, and Stefon Diggs dropped two passes.

In 13 possessions for the first team over their first three games this month, the Vikings produced 11 punts and one field goal. They reached the 6-yard line in the second quarter but ran out of time before they could try another play.

Bears 19, Titans 7: Mike Glennon capped an opening 96-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Dion Sims , helping his case to be Chicago’s starting quarterback as the Bears beat Tennessee in the third preseason game in Nashville, Tennessee.

Glennon was an efficient 11 of 18 for 134 yards passing despite losing starting wide receiver Cameron Meredith late in the first quarter. Meredith was carted off with an injured left knee.

Mitchell Trubisky, the second overall pick out of North Carolina, opened the third quarter with the Bears’ starters. But Trubisky threw two incompletions as the Bears (2-1) went three-and-out. Trubisky also fumbled a snap on his next series, though he rebounded with a 45-yard TD pass to Tanner Gentry for a 19-7 lead in the fourth quarter.

The Titans (1-2) had issues on offense, defense and special teams. The Bears could have led 14-0 if Adam Shaheen controlled the ball before going out of bounds after Roy Robertson-Harris blocked a punt into the end zone early in the second quarter. Instead, Chicago led 9-0 after referee Ed Hochuli finally changed his ruling of a touchback to a safety.

Tennessee’s offensive struggles prompted coach Mike Mularkey to keep his first-team in until Mariota tossed the ball to Derrick Henry on the first play of the fourth for a 3-yard TD run that kept Tennessee from being shut out.

Redskins 23, Bengals 17: Andy Dalton was 8 of 13 for 70 yards and Cincinnati’s first-team offense and defense looked sharp against Washington as the Redskins won on the strength of their backups. A.J. Green had four catches for 43 yards, Jeremy Hill ran for 15 yards and the Bengals regulars’ first exhibition touchdown before his day was cut short with an ankle injury.

“We just executed,” Green said. “Once we’re clicking on all cylinders and everybody getting their touches, we can be a dangerous offense.”

And a dangerous defense, too.

Linebacker Vontaze Burfict intercepted Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins’ pass and returned it for a touchdown, stiff-arming the quarterback at the end zone and jumping into the stands, before leaving with a back injury. Chris Smith and rookies Jordan Willis and Carl Lawson each sacked Cousins as defensive coordinator Paul Guenther seems to have the edge rushers he was looking for.

“Good job today on third down, which was key,” Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis said after his team improved to 1-2 in the preseason. “We haven’t played as well on third down defensively this preseason yet and so we made some good strides.”

It was the opposite for Cousins and the Redskins’ starters, who ended their preseason with nine three-and-outs on 15 possessions. Washington went three-and-out three times on Sunday as Cousins was 10 of 19 for 109 yards and an interception, which he called “entirely” his fault.

After generating 1 whole yard in the first quarter, the starters eventually put together a touchdown drive, but there’s reason for the Redskins (1-2) to be worried about slow starts continuing in the regular season.

“I’m a little concerned,” coach Jay Gruden said. “We just got to figure out something new, maybe eat a different pregame meal or something.”