FOXBORO -- Forget Bill Belichick and Rex Ryan. The real showdown this weekend is going to be between Wes Welker and Darrelle Revis.

Entering Sunday’s game at Gillette, the Patriots’ receiver and the Jets’ cornerback are at the peak of their powers. Through four games, Welker is on pace to have the finest season for a wide receiver in NFL history. He leads the league with 40 receptions for 616 yards, a pace that would allow him to shatter both single-season records, and the best start (yardage-wise) for any receiver in the history of the game.

Meanwhile, Revis is having his usual stellar start -- according to Pro Football Focus, he has allowed just three receptions on 11 targets, while quarterbacks have a microscopic 3.6 passer rating when throwing in his direction. PFF also adds that no pass in Revis’ direction has been completed over the past three weeks.

It certainly appears now that Ryan is going to give the people what they want -- he said Thursday that he’s “sure” Revis would get the opportunity to face Welker.

“Welker only has 40 catches. Not like he’s done anything yet,” Ryan said with a laugh. “I’m sure Darrelle will have an opportunity to cover him.”

The two have been locked up in single coverage before. Revis matched up with Moss in Week Two of last season, but in the two other meetings between the Patriots and Jets in 2010, Revis was moved around a bit. (When Revis was on Welker in those games, Brady would frequently target Deion Branch.)

PFF has run the numbers, and in the last four meetings, when Welker and Revis have been in man coverage, Welker has been targeted five times and caught three passes for 64 yards, with 36 yards after the catch. Overall, in three meetings last season -- including the Jets’ 28-21 playoff victory -- Welker totaled 20 catches for 175 yards and two touchdowns.

On Thursday, Ryan was asked why he wouldn’t put Revis on Welker and leave him there all afternoon. He seemed to hint that there would be a mix.

“You do a lot of things schematically, so sometimes you will take that approach, put him on the best,” Ryan said of Revis. “Sometimes we’ll play him on the right, on the left. Sometimes we’ll put [Antonio Cromartie] on a certain receiver. We look at all those types of matchups.

“But we don’t play just one coverage. If we were playing straight man coverage or something like that, then maybe we would.”

“I think you definitely need to know where [Revis] is,” Belichick said. “Certainly, you have to know what you have with Revis, know what you have with [Antonio] Cromartie, Kyle Wilson, Eric Smith, you know, all the matchups, [David] Harris, whoever they have. A good quarterback and a well prepared team, they know who all those matchups are and when they change and what opportunities those present or maybe limit.”

The Welker-Revis showdown is just one part of what looms as an epic chess match between Belichick and Ryan between the New England passing game and the New York pass defense. How will Ryan try and defend the Patriots’ offense, which leads the league in most major categories? Where will the Patriots look for mismatches? And can the Jets rely on the rest of the defensive backs beyond Revis to provide support?

While there will be some Welker-Revis action in single coverage, it’s also a safe bet that New York will spend some of the afternoon in zone -- that worked in last January’s playoff game, when the Jets flooded the middle of the field with defensive backs and took away much of the area where Welker thrives.

However, the Patriots are better at running the football now than they were last January -- New England averages 5.8 yards per carry, fifth-best in the league, and is also in the Top 10 in rushing yards and rushing yards per game -- and so the idea of using nickel or dime packages against New England could be giving the Patriots an opportunity to lean on BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead and Stevan Ridley to gash the Jets on the ground.

“That’s a great point. If all we do is play the little guys, I think that’s what you’re going to get,” Ryan said when asked if that sort of offense leaves the Jets vulnerable to the run. “But there’s things you can do. Little guys are out there; you can scheme, run blitzes and all that stuff. So it is a chess match, there’s no doubt. But I agree with you, that certainly the smaller you get, the more vulnerable you are to the run.”

In addition, it’s important to note that Revis makes his money working on the outside, and not against slot receivers. If the Jets would go with Revis in single coverage against Welker in the slot, that would presumably open up other opportunities for other New England pass catchers who would be outside, including Branch and potentially Chad Ochocinco.

But the real wild card in all of this for the Patriots is likely at tight end, where youngsters Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez have been matchup nightmares in the past. Depending on how the two tight ends are deployed, that could also be a nightmare for the Jets. It’s important to remember that Hernandez only played 25 of the 80 snaps in last January’s playoff loss to New York, as he was hobbled by injury.

Hernandez, more of a wide receiver than a tight end, could also draw Revis for part of the afternoon. According to the Newark Star-Ledger, the Jets corner sounds like he’d welcome that matchup.

“Um, I can cover him, I know that,” Revis said. “Is it going to be me [on Hernandez]? I don’t know.”

Hernandez, who is coming off a left knee injury, returned to practice on Thursday (albeit in a limited role), and said Thursday he would welcome the chance to go head-to-head with Revis.

“I think it would be a good matchup,” said Hernandez, who has nine catches for 152 yards and a touchdown in two career games against the Jets.

But in the end, Sunday figures to come down to The Slot Machine against Revis Island, with the winner giving his team an early advantage in this year’s edition of the AFC’s best rivalry.