It seems like every week is brutal in the land of fantasy football; who you started, who you didn’t, who gets hurt. This year, I have three teams, making my life all the more maddening. Nevertheless, here are some of the best and worst performers from a fantasy standpoint from Sunday’s NFL action.

DREW BREES — Last night, I received a text from a friend that I am matched up against in Week 1 that said, “I’m going to shank Drew Brees in the right bicep.” That’s the kind of week he had; Brees salvaged horrendous performances by my other “star” players with his six-touchdown rampage. It’s not like any of us were particularly surprised that Detroit got beat up, but this is just more proof that Brees is worthy of No. 1 QB status.

ARIZONA OFFENSE — What the heck happened to everyone? Tim Hightower had more catches than Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin combined. Kurt Warner finished strong, but had a horrible start. Yeah, Boldin was hurt, but this team went to the Super Bowl last year with Boldin at less than 100 percent, and beat some really good teams in the playoffs to get there. So the season starts off with a loss to San Francisco? Surprisingly, the only fantasy star in this game was Hightower, and only 10.8 percent of owners in ESPN fantasy leagues started him.

ADRIAN PETERSON — As the consensus No. 1 pick of every fantasy draft, Peterson showed us again why he is an absolute freak of nature. Cleveland’s defense was soft, of course, but he had his way in the second half. After 25 first-half yards, he cut his left arm, got lightheaded, threw up and got fluids through an I.V. Then he ran for 155 yards in 30 minutes, including an electrifying 64-yard touchdown run in which he broke tackles from five Brown defenders on his way to the end zone. Wow.

REGGIE WAYNE — Indianapolis only scored 14 points, but Wayne led all receivers in fantasy points in Week 1 (according to standard scoring format). Anthony Gonzalez will miss 2 to 6 weeks with a strained knee ligament (and I started him yesterday, wow), so it’s surely going to be Wayne’s world in the coming months.

JETS D/ST — What a game for these guys. They completely shut down an offensive attack that everyone thought would be blazing in Week 1: Steve Slaton and Andre Johnson were completely ineffective. There’s no defense as good as the Steelers, but after the conclusion of Week 1, I might give the Jets the No. 2 spot … for now.

TONY ROMO — I doubted Romo strongly before the season, but he exploded for 355 yards (a career high) and 3 TD’s. He will almost surely fall off the face of the Earth come the end of the season, but he is a valuable fantasy commodity until then.

SEATTLE OFFENSE — Yeah, they were playing St. Louis, but Seattle really made one of the biggest statements of Week 1. Matt Hasselbeck spread the ball around, and the running game was effective for the first time in a long time. New star receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was third on the team in receiving yards, and they still dominated the game. I’m impressed.

EDDIE ROYAL — I was adamant about Royal before the season began after seeing what he did as a No. 2 receiver last year, and given Brandon Marshall’s troubles, I figured it would be a big year for Royal. Not only did Marshall outperform Royal against the Bengals, but the perpetually mediocre Kyle Orton only found him for two catches. This whole football team is in trouble, and Royal doesn’t look so good anymore. The Broncos were incredibly lucky to win that football game.

KEVIN SMITH — My favorite waiver-wire pickup from last year suffered from Detroit’s inability to run the ball, so what did he do? He caught seven passes for 52 yards. Smith, just like last year, somehow manages to get you fantasy points while playing on the worst team in football, showing us that sometimes, it actually doesn’t matter where you play. That being said, if he were playing on a decent team, he would be a top 10 fantasy running back without a doubt.

ATLANTA OFFENSE — A good win, but a modest day statistically for an offense that is supposed to be one of the best. Tony Gonzalez had the best day, but other than that, Matt Ryan threw for a pedestrian 229 yards, Michael Turner ran for just 65 yards and no scores, and Roddy White had only 42 yards receiving, and again, no scores. I feel like things will turn around for this offense, but Miami’s pass defense was ranked 25th in the NFL last year; the Falcons should have dominated.

SANTANA MOSS — Moss was a beast through the first eight weeks of last season before he faded away, averaging just under 13 points per week in that span. So how does he score a goose egg on opening day? He was targeted five times but caught only two passes, so was this good defense, poor throws or Moss slacking off? Any way you call it, you have to be disappointed with Moss again for this one.

MICHAEL VICK — Everyone’s talking about it, but does Vick have fantasy relevance after Eagles starting QB Donovan McNabb cracks a rib in Week 1? Vick can’t play next week, but if McNabb is out longer, be prepared for the media circus around the news. But don’t get excited and grab Vick off waivers until he proves to you that he’s still got it.