Who was the Fantasy Player of the Week? Vote on the top performers and decide who was the most valuable player!
Joe Flacco, QB, Ravens
So much for Flacco's struggles on the road. The Delaware product went off against the St. Louis Rams, throwing for 389 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-7 win. Amazingly, all of his touchdown passes came in the first quarter, and all three went to rookie Torrey Smith. What's even more odd is that the Ravens didn't score an offensive touchdown in the last three quarters of the contest -- DT Haloti Ngata found the end zone in the fourth on a 28-yard fumble return. Flacco has a far more difficult test in Week 4, facing a New York Jets defense that's one of the top units in the NFL.
Mark Sanchez, QB, Jets
The Jets lost in a shocker to the Oakland Raiders, 34-24, but Sanchez was still a beast for fantasy leaguers. In fact, he scored the second-most points among signal-callers in the Sunday games. The Southern California product threw for an impressive 369 yards and scored a total of three touchdowns -- one came on a 1-yard run, a second on an 18-yard pass to LaDainian Tomlinson, and a third on a 16-yard connection to Plaxico Burress. This isn't a performance that fantasy leaguers should expect on a regular basis, but it does prove Sanchez can be a matchup-based option.
Darren McFadden, RB, Raiders
If there were any doubts that McFadden should be ranked among the elite running backs in fantasy football, well, those doubts should now be put to rest. Despite the fact that he was playing against a formidable Jets run defense, the talented Arkansas product still rushed for 171 yards with two touchdowns. McFadden's scores came on a 2-yard run in the first quarter and a 70-yard jaunt in the third, giving him a combined four touchdowns on the season. No matter who the opponent is moving forward, McFadden needs to be considered a must-start runner. He'll face the New England Patriots next week.
Wes Welker, WR, Patriots
If you were one of the 2.5 percent of NFL.com fantasy owners who benched Welker this week, please remain at least 10 feet from all sharp objects. The veteran wideout went off against the Buffalo Bills, catching 16 passes for 217 yards and two touchdowns in a tough 34-31 loss. Welker's first score came on a 14-yard pass from Tom Brady, and his second on a 6-yard connection with the superstar quarterback. He also caught 13 more passes than the rest of the Patriots wide receivers combined! Suffice it to say, Welker is a must-start option across the board. He faces the Oakland Raiders in Week 4.
Torrey Smith, WR, Ravens
Talk about coming out of nowhere to put up huge fantasy totals. Smith, who started in the absence of an injured Lee Evans, scored three touchdowns in the first quarter en route to what was a monster stat line against the Rams. The rookie out of Maryland finished with 152 yards -- his scores came on connections of 74, 41 and 18 yards with Flacco. Of course, a select few fantasy leaguers were clever enough to start him -- Smith was active in just 0.1 percent of NFL.com leagues. In fact, Evans (2.2 percent) was in even more starting lineups despite the fact that he was declared inactive.
Michael Fabiano is an award-winning fantasy football analyst on NFL.com. Have a burning question for Michael on anything fantasy football related? Send it to **AskFabiano@nfl.com** or tweet it at _**MichaelFabiano**_!
