Week 18 is on our doorstep and there are still loads to figure out as it relates to the overall playoff picture. Division titles are still on the line, as well as important races to determine seeding in both conferences,

Nolan Bianchi, Richard Silva, John Niyo and Bob Wojnowski of The Detroit News offer their predictions for Week 18 of the NFL season.

The Rams "need to play better football," so their starters will play, while the Eagles and Chargers are among those who will rest players.

The NFL's finale in Week 18 will start Saturday with a pair of key divisional matchups that will decide two division winners and part of the NFC playoff seeding. But there's a third divisional matchup I find to be most important Sunday between two AFC teams.

Our NFL Week 18 early picks against the spread start with Saturday's NFC South clash between the Panthers and Buccaneers.

Overall picks to win: 8-8 in Week 17 (173-82-1 for the season) Picks to win with 1-5 confidence: 4-7 (103-64-1) Picks to win with 6-10 confidence: 4-1 (70-18) Overall to cover the spread: 9-6-1 (130-117-9) Cover-the-spread picks with 1-5 confidence: 8-4-1 (107-93-8) Cover-the-spread picks with 6-10 confidence: 1-2 (23-23-1)