Every year, the NFL waits as long as possible before releasing the Week 18 schedule and that announcement finally came on Sunday night.

The NFL season continues in Week 17 when the Carolina Panthers host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Start time, how to watch, stream and NFL TV schedule.

Lions also kicks off at 4:25. For Philadelphia to secure the 2-seed in the NFC, they need to win and have Chicago lose.

What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference's seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized Sunday,

Making NFL picks always carries a bit more excitement when there's something on the line, and that's the case with the Week 17 NFL schedule. No less than half a dozen matchups carry postseason implications for both teams,

The Packers clinched a playoff spot with the Lions' loss to the Vikings on Christmas. Detroit was eliminated with the defeat, and now Green Bay is competing with Chicago for the NFC North.

Notable odds: While the loss to the Panthers drops Tampa Bay out of playoff position for the time being, the Bucs still have a 58% shot at winning the NFC South, per The Athletic. That's because they face Carolina one more time and will hold the tiebreaker if they win that game.

For Week 17 NFL betting, SportsLine AI has evaluated the NFL odds and provided NFL betting picks for all 16 games. You can only see the AI predictions for the Week 17 NFL schedule here. After analyzing every game in Week 17, the AI says the Steelers (-3.5, 34), who have won three in a row, cover comfortably against the Browns.