Bewerbungen » e organization next week at Road America

LANDOVER, Md. -- Sam Bradford grabbed his helmet with two hands and slammed it down on the sideline.The Vikings quarterback had just been picked off late in what would become a 26-20 loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday, Minnesotas fourth consecutive defeat in a season that began with five consecutive victories and now is slipping away.Afterward, Bradford was asked what he could have done better on this afternoon.Not throwing an interception in the fourth quarter wouldve helped, Bradford replied.Scoring a single point in the second half might have been useful, too.Weve just got to be more consistent, Bradford said.Showing the sort of up-and-down play that encapsulates its season, Minnesota (5-4) trailed 14-0 less than a minute into the second quarter, put up three TDs in about 5 1/2 minutes at the end of the half to take the lead, and got outscored 12-0 the rest of the way.Im concerned, obviously, but I still believe, coach Mike Zimmer said. I believe that (if) we do a couple things here or a couple things there, were going to win some games. ... I just feel like if we can get over the hump, if we can keep fighting until we do that, positive things will happen. It doesnt look like that right now.Sure doesnt.The Vikings had problems in all three phases of the game. Blair Walsh missed an extra point on the final play of the first half, making him only 15 for 19 on the season. This came after Minnesota invited a half-dozen free agents to a tryout during the week before deciding to keep Walsh.Honestly, I didnt even see the kick, so I dont know what happened on it, Zimmer said, other than he missed.Asked whether he would evaluate Walshs status again, Zimmer replied: Yes, I will evaluate everything.Plenty for him to look at, including an offense that was shut out after halftime and twice failed to convert on third-and-1.Theres no excuse, guard Brandon Fusco said, for not getting a yard.The Vikings generally have become unable to run the ball since injuries to Adrian Peterson and starters along the offensive line. That last part only appeared to get worse on their final drive Sunday, when left tackle Jake Long -- as it is, he was on the field because Matt Kalil is on IR -- was carted off with an Achilles tendon injury. Zimmer said he believes Long is done for the season.Then theres the defense, which played at a level approaching historic greatness at the start of the season and now is merely OK.If the Redskins had not repeatedly stalled inside the red zone, the Vikings might have allowed more than four field goals in the second half.Weve got to create more turnovers. Weve got to be better on third down. Theres a lot of things that arent happening for us right now, defensive end Brian Robison said. At the end of the day, weve got to figure out what it is that weve got to get back to doing.Robison was referring to the defense in particular, but he could have been talking about the entire team.Zimmer insisted his players are still fighting, still putting in the right amount of effort to have more success.That was the coachs message to the media -- and in the locker room.After a while, you get tired of hearing that, and youve got to win a ... game, guard Alex Boone said. You can only say you played so tough for so long until it doesnt count anymore. These are games youve got to win.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrichMOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Roger Penske went 1-2-3 in the IndyCar standings this year. He figured he could have done better.Team Penske added Josef Newgarden to its roster on Wednesday, giving the organization the top four finishing drivers in this seasons IndyCar standings.Newgarden, who finished fourth this year in the series, was the top free agent in IndyCar and becomes the first American driver on Penskes open wheel roster since Sam Hornish Jr. in 2007.Thats not the reason we hired him, Penske team president Tim Cindric said, but a bonus for sure.Newgarden was hired because hes the future of IndyCar. The Tennessee native turns 26 in December, and although he has just three career wins in four seasons, he found success with tiny Ed Carpenter Racing in a series that is dominated by Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing.Hell replace Juan Pablo Montoya, who won the Indianapolis 500 last year for Penske and lost the series title on a tie-breaker. Newgarden joins a lineup that includes reigning champion Simon Pagenaud, three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves and former series champ Will Power.Penske expanded his roster to four cars to make room for Pagenaud, who became a free agent after the 2013 season. The team was rewarded when Pagenaud gave the organization its 14th IndyCar title last month. So with Newgarden available, Penske again made a shrewd move and offered him Montoyas seat.You have to decide if hes going to join you, or you are going to race against him for a little while, Cindric said.Montoya was told during the summer that the teeam was looking at other options for its aging roster -- Montoya and Castroneves are both 41 -- but was given the options to race in the Indy 500 for Penske.ddddddddddddWeve got a seat at Indy for him if he wants one, Cindric said. Our offer is open for him, wed love for him to continue with our team. But we didnt want to miss the opportunity to have Josef be a part of team in the future.Newgarden and Ed Carpenter Racing announced last week that Newgarden would not return, and Newgarden wasted no time jumping into Penske mode. He said he had his first phone conversation with Penske on Tuesday, he was at the North Carolina shop on Wednesday morning and will test with the entire organization next week at Road America in Wisconsin.His crash course into all things Penske was an admitted information overload, but Newgarden doesnt plan to waste any time contributing. He anticipates eventually relocating from Indianapolis to North Carolina, where Pagenaud and Power both live to be close to the shop.Ill try to add value to the group, which is going to be hard to do, he said. Team Penske is a dream job. Roger Penske is a legend in the motorsports community and his team has done just about everything theyve ever set out to do.Newgarden finished the 2016 season with one win, four podiums and 11 top-10 finishes. He led 282 of 300 laps to win at Iowa this year, and was in the championship hunt until he wrecked at Texas in June. ' ' '