Week 13 NFL MVP Picks

Yahoo Sports’ Charles Robinson and Frank Schwab select the unlikeliest of football heroes from week 13 in the MVP Picks brought to you by Visa.

Video Transcript

CHARLES ROBINSON: As we close the book on Sunday's games, we wanted to highlight Visa supports MVPs on and off the field, from playmakers to small business owners. That's why today we're awarding the MVP to the unlikeliest football hero from week 13. Franklin, who you got? I think I know who you're going to pick. I think it's going to be a guy who looked like-- suddenly just looked like Tom Brady for two minutes for the first time this season.

FRANK SCHWAB: And that's all Jared Goff needed, right? The monkey's off their back, they're not going to have that 0 next to their name forever. I did not expect to be talking about Jared Goff so much tonight, but let's give this guy credit. A lot of people banged on him, even this head coach, at times, criticized him. Everybody's piling on Jared Goff. He played well today, had 296 yards, three touchdowns. And when the chips were on the line, after the Lions seemed to give it away-- they would go for it on fourth down, which was the right call, but the play breaks up.

And they fumble, the Vikings score. You're just like oh, the Lions are going to lose again, how sad. And then regardless of how bad Mike Zimmer's defense was on that drive, Jared Goff got it done. He drove them down the field, completed the 11-yard touchdown to St. Brown on the last play. Made the right read, made the right throw, went and celebrated with Dan Campbell, which was just honestly one of the cool moments of the NFL season. We can get very cynical about bad teams, but these guys are trying every week to win, man. They're trying, they're going to work 80 hours a week.

To have it finally pay off with a win I felt so good for Jared Goff, who's gotten so much heat this season. He played well, he came up huge when the chips were on the line. Good for him, good for the Detroit Lions. Did not see Jared Goff being an MVP today, but he sure was. He is my unlikely MVP, today. What about you, Charles, what you got?

CHARLES ROBINSON: Well, it's the guy who showed up in the bomber jacket, right? It's got to be Gardner Minshew for the Philadelphia Eagles. There's a reason why the Eagles went out and got him in the preseason. He was a guy who fit into, I think, the way that the offense was going to be structured. I think they know he's a very good guy to have in the quarterback room, like he's got a very infectious personality. Teammates loved him in Jacksonville. Look, he goes out, he gets to start for the Philadelphia Eagles, goes 20-for-25, throws for 240-plus yards, two touchdowns.

The Philadelphia running game looked fantastic. He was very efficient, and they beat the Jets 33-18. But to me, as I said, I kind of feel like he is a version of Ryan Fitzpatrick. He's going to be a guy who can come in. He's going to look good, people are going to get excited because he looks like he plays really well, especially when he's playing as efficient to complete 20 of 25 passes. Does not surprise me at all that this is the outcome once he finally got an opportunity in Philadelphia, and it will create an interesting buzz in the season moving forward.

But it does give the Eagles something to think about with Jalen Hurts as the starter at quarterback. So for me, that's the unlikeliest football hero. All right, sometimes the most important figures on Sunday aren't the biggest stars but the supporting cast helping to make things happen. This was MVP picks brought to you by VISA.