Here are the picks:

New Orleans at Carolina

Don’t buy too much into the Saints’ win over Green Bay. New Orleans is a better team at home and they’re a great team at home in primetime.

PANTHERS 20, SAINTS 17

Tampa Bay at Cleveland

I must applaud the Browns for avoiding a QB controversy this season. I thought by this point in the year, ESPN would be breaking into Cleveland’s team complex and demanding that Johnny Manziel take over at QB.

BROWNS 24, BUCS 14

Arizona at Dallas

The Cowboys started to look like the old Cowboys again on Monday night. I think Arizona is a touch matchup for them, and the downfall could be underway for Jerry Jones and company.

CARDINALS 22, COWBOYS 18

Philadelphia at Houston

The Texans don’t have nearly enough offense to keep up with the Eagles.

EAGLES 21, TEXANS 14

N.Y. Jets at Kansas City

I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive myself for picking the Jets to win last week. Mistakes like that can’t be made.

CHIEFS 41, JETS 10

Jacksonville at Cincinnati

The Jags can be happy they at least won one game this season.

BENGALS 26, JAGUARS 13

San Diego at Miami

This is a big game for a Dolphins team that has proven to be aggressive and effective on defense this season, but I can’t pick against Phillip Rivers.

CHARGERS 19, DOLPHINS 16

Washington at Minnesota

QB A: 5 games played, 60 percent passing, 1,053 yards, 6.8 average, 2 TD, 5 INT, 71.3 rating, 75 rushing yards, 1 TD

QB B: 11 games played, 54.3 percent passing, 1,853 yards, 6.4 average, 13 TD, 13 INT, 70,1 rating, 219 rushing yards

As any stout Viking fan may have figured out, QB A is Teddy Bridgewater and QB B is Christian Ponder’s rookie season. Both quarterbacks rely on a underneath passes and neither can consistently throw the deep ball accurately. Both are dangerous in the running game, and both were once declared ‘the quarterback of the future.’

I think Viking fans have gotten so sick of mediocre quarterback play, that the simple act of putting another player under center gets them excited. I have yet to see anything special out of Bridgewater that Ponder couldn’t do. People may forget about it, but Ponder did have a QB rating of 81.2 and he threw for 2,935 yards in a 2012 season where he, a long with a possessed Adrian Peterson, led a pretty bad Vikings team to the playoffs.

I’m not saying Ponder is the answer at quarterback, I’m just saying the Vikings should be careful before they bank their entire future on the arm of Bridgewater. There has to be a reason why Minnesota has never been able to keep a solid quarterback for more than three seasons since Brad Johnson was their QB in the 1990s. They get too high on their QBs early, and then they get too disappointed when those QBs don’t meet those sky-high expectations.

As for Bridgewater, at some point he’s going to be able to start making teams pay for blitzing him all of the time and that could be this week.

VIKINGS 27, REDSKINS 21

St. Louis at San Francisco

The 49ers should take care of business at home.

49ERS 31, RAMS 17

Denver at New England

ESPN is still trying to make a big deal about the Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning rivalry. Both QBs are certain Hall of Famers and most teams would take either of them in a heartbeat. I’m just excited to watch what should be a great game.

PATRIOTS 21, BRONCOS 20

Oakland at Seattle

The winless Raiders are certainly not going into Seattle and winning.

SEAHAWKS 34, RAIDERS 10

Baltimore at Pittsburgh

The Steelers looked unbeatable last week, but I don’t see them doing that two weeks in a row.

RAVENS 27, STEELERS 21

Last week: 10-5; overall: 76-44