Stevie Johnson, Michael Crabtree's Instant Fantasy Reaction After Week 3

Surely many fantasy owners of San Francisco 49ers receivers Stevie Johnson and Michael Crabtee shied away from them thanks to a date against Arizona's Patrick Peterson and Antonio Cromartie this week.

Their loss.

On the road in the desert against an undefeated team, both players had the look of No. 1 fantasy wideouts by day's end:

Christian Petersen/Getty Images

The production, not to mention the amount of targets, was quite surprising given San Francisco's reputation as a run-first team. It also didn't look promising that this was a matchup against a formidable pass defense.

For Crabtree owners, the outburst is another signal that he is once again a matchup-proof option. His 14 points against a strong Chicago secondary in Week 2 can attest to that.

Johnson is a bit trickier, as Sunday's performance was more reminiscent of his days as a No. 1 option in Buffalo than his current role with the 49ers.

His emergence should be taken with a grain of salt. As Bleacher Report's Matt Miller notes, quarterback Colin Kaepernick was turning to Johnson in critical moments:

"

Stevie Johnson really becoming a bigger part of the 49ers offense today. He's been targeted often on 3rd downs.

— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) September 21, 2014
"

 The problem is consistency, as Kaepernick also has Anquan Boldin and tight end Vernon Davis (when healthy) to rely on in such scenarios, so his production may have been more reactionary as Arizona gobbled up other options.

For now, Johnson should be a matchup-based play as a WR3 or FLEX, and only in deeper leagues.

With that in mind, both Crabtree and Johnson should be in any and all lineups in the coming weeks with contests against Philadelphia and Kansas City on the horizon—both rank among the 10 teams that give up the most points to wideouts each week.

Should Johnson continue to produce at such a clip, then owners can feel free to elevate his status.

All scoring info courtesy of ESPN standard leagues, as is points-against info. Statistics courtesy of ESPN.