Monday Playbook: Are Cowboys ready for Robert Griffin III?

• Texans receiver Andre Johnson caught 14 passes for 273 yards against Jaguars
• Former Giants assistant Mike Sullivan is thriving as Bucs' offensive coordinator
• Patriots are rolling, but they're going to miss injured Rob Gronkowski

Now that you've slept on the scores and digested the stats, here's an in-depth look at Week 11 of the NFL season. Take your time reading it, but not too much time -- there's turkey to stuff and three more games quickly approaching.

Ten things we learned in Week 11

1. It's time to start doubling Andre Johnson again. The Houston Texans receiver saw way too much single coverage Sunday, and he made the Jacksonville Jaguars pay big time (14 catches for 273 yards). Nearly every time Johnson caught a pass, there was no semblance of the bracket coverage he's used to seeing.

"I've been telling you guys I've been feeling better and better every week," Johnson told reporters, though the following warning applies to defenses as well.

"Maybe you guys will believe me after that."

Jags cornerback Aaron Ross gave Johnson about 10 yards of cushion on his game-winning 48-yard catch-and-run touchdown in overtime.

"When I caught the ball, and I saw how open I was, I was just looking around like, 'Where are the defenders?' " Johnson said. "I took off running, and I kept looking, and I thought the cornerback would come from the outside, but he wasn't there."

2. Mike Sullivan is having a tremendous first year as an offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Head coach Greg Schiano has been lauded during the team's current four-game winning streak, but he's a defensive guy by trade. Sullivan came over after eight seasons as an assistant with Tom Coughlin's New York Giants. The Bucs have put up 22, 31, 28, 36, 42, 20 and 27 points (including three defensive touchdowns) in their past six games. Their 28.7 points per game ties them with the New Orleans Saints for fourth most in the league and in good company behind the New England Patriots (35.8), Denver Broncos (30.1) and Texans (29.3) and ahead of the Atlanta Falcons (27.0), Giants (26.7), Baltimore Ravens (26.7) and Green Bay Packers (26.3).

Plus, give Sullivan credit for the successful play-action pass on the two-point conversion to tie the game and force overtime in yesterday's win at the Carolina Panthers.

"Sully was great," Schiano said of that call. "We talked about it. We had some conversations and he said, 'I think this is it.' And he was right."

3. Robert Griffin III is preparing to put on a show on Thanksgiving for the Washington Redskins. Call this one a hunch, with evidence to support it in the form of his four-touchdown showing on Sunday in the victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. After a few weeks of struggles following his big start to the season, Griffin did it all on Sunday with his arm and legs by picking up 84 rushing yards. The guy likes to play big in big spots. Thursday will mark his first regular-season appearance on national TV in the NFL. The Dallas Cowboys' defense had better be ready.

4. Even Ed Hochuli can get yelled at from time to time. The most visible official, especially during this year's lockout and replacement-ref fiasco, received an earful from Cleveland Browns coach Pat Shurmur when he and his crew called what should've been an overtime fumble on Dallas' Miles Austin an incompletion instead. After Hochuli announced with a grin the play wasn't reviewed, TV cameras caught Shurmur yelling, "You guys are (bleeping) it up!" Three plays later, the Cowboys kicked the game-winning field goal. It's been that kind of year — and decade — for the Browns.

5. The Cincinnati Bengals are officially in the playoff hunt. We apologize for suggesting a few weeks ago they didn't have a shot. The Bengals announced their presence with last week's thumping of the Giants, but Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs on the road had the potential to be trickier than it looked, especially after the Chiefs played physical defense against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 10.

But the 28-6 Cincinnati win was never really a contest and the Bengals even had a — gasp! — 100-yard rusher (BenJarvus Green-Ellis) for the first time all year. They are now within a game of the Steelers and Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card race and have a layup against the Oakland Raiders this weekend. It's the Bengals' opportunity to blow here. And if they blow it, we're going to hammer them again and withdraw the apology.

6. The New York Jets just can't win or lose quietly — not all of them anyway. This is not a blanket statement by any means because there are lots of guys in Gang Green jerseys who handle themselves professionally. But Bart Scott's announcement of another "media mutiny" (read: boycott) following Sunday's win at the St. Louis Rams — it followed a similar proclamation from Week 1 when he was asked by USA TODAY Sports for an interview — isn't going to earn the team much favor. And it had already lost plenty after an unnamed Jet called Tim Tebow "terrible" in a (New York) Daily News story last week. Don't be surprised if the Jets look terrible and take a thumping from the New England Patriots on Thursday night, so Scott and the rest of the defense must be ready to play.

7. Speaking of the Patriots, they'll miss Rob Gronkowski — a lot. A source told USA TODAY Sports the tight end will miss four to six weeks with a broken bone in his forearm. Gronkowski underwent surgery Monday morning. The good news is that means he'll likely be ready for the postseason. More good news: It's not a leg issue, like the high-ankle sprain that limited him in the Super Bowl last season. But the bad news is there's really no way to replace the element Gronkowski brings with his size mismatches, which Indianapolis Colts defensive backs and coaches were praising after the Pats' romp Sunday by saying he's uncoverable when Tom Brady puts the ball in the right spot.

8. The Detroit Lions are cooked. They need to make up two games and jump five teams to get into the postseason. Sunday's game against the Packers was their shot to put themselves in a much better spot with four home games in the last six weeks. Instead, they couldn't get a yard — not one single yard — when they took over from their own 25-yard line with 1:48 to play and needing only a field goal. That's a missed opportunity they'll be pondering all offseason.

9. Drew Brees has singlehandedly resurrected the Saints. OK, that's an overstatement. But trust us, there was no bigger force in the team's resurgence. It all goes back to a meeting Brees held with the offense before the Week 4 game against the Packers. As reported by USA TODAY Sports, it was a rare occurrence for Brees to get up like that and demand better performances from his teammates. The Saints didn't win in Green Bay that week, but they played extremely well. For the first time, they had some of their mojo back. Now, they have a lot of it in the tank. They're still facing a bit of an uphill climb with their upcoming schedule (vs. the San Francisco 49ers, at the Falcons and at the Giants), but who dat only a game out of the playoffs now?

10. In addition to setting records, Peyton Manning is spreading the ball around. And that's a bad, bad thing for opposing defenses. The past two weeks, Manning has hit nine different Broncos receivers. Three weeks ago, he found eight. Good luck covering that arsenal with him seeing the field as well as he is right now.

Taking stock

Here's a glimpse at the NFL market and whether we're getting in or getting out.

BUY: Andre Johnson's short-term stock and Justin Blackmon's long-term stock. They became the first players in NFL history to each record 200 receiving yards or more in a game. The Houston Texans' Johnson had 273 yards, the Jacksonville Jaguars' Blackmon had 236.

SELL: The New England Patriots' fans booing Indianapolis Colts kicker and former Pats hero Adam Vinatieri. "That's the yearly ritual," Vinatieri said. "I appreciate it." We don't.

BUY: Andrew Luck's bounce-back ability. Sunday's four-turnover performance was ugly at times, but it had some pretty moments as well. Look for him to come back strong this weekend against the Buffalo Bills.

SELL: The Carson Palmer era in Oakland. The Raiders (3-7) absolutely have to draft a quarterback. And at this rate, they'll have a nice, early selection to use. Owner Mark Davis made a rare appearance in the locker room after Sunday's loss to the New Orleans Saints and said he wasn't happy with what he has seen the last few weeks. "I'm patient. But I want to see progress," he said. "I don't want to see regression. Nobody does. And that's why I'm unhappy today."

BUY: Josh Freeman's mental toughness. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback had an uglier performance after being interception-free in his previous four games. But he hung in there to throw a perfect pass to Vincent Jackson for the game-tying touchdown and then hit Dallas Clark for the winner in overtime to beat the Carolina Panthers.

SELL: Philip Rivers' rate of an interception every 24.3 attempts this season. Last year, it was one every 29.1 passes when the San Diego Chargers star was picked off 20 times. Before that, he'd never been below 30. Yikes.

BUY: The Cincinnati Bengals' pass rush. They do it with power, not speed, most of the time. But, hey, that works in the NFL, too. Geno Atkins, who recorded his eighth sack of the season Sunday, is one strong dude.

SELL: The next month-plus of football in Philadelphia. We don't even want to watch. Or listen. It's going to be really, really ugly for the Eagles and their fans. But team brass won't fire Andy Reid, and he said he won't quit, so excuse us while we turn the other way.

BUY: Randall Cobb as a budding, consistent threat for the Green Bay Packers. He has touchdowns in five of his past six games. Just watch — by this time next year, he'll be good for seven catches per game nearly every week.

SELL: The Matt Ryan-for-MVP talk. After his five-interception game Sunday (albeit in a victory over the Arizona Cardinals), that conversation is on the back burner.