Terrell Owens has been unstoppable lately. Darrelle Revis has been the league's premier

defensive stopper all season.

If you think Thursday night's game between the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets lacks

intrigue for viewers, check out the Owens-Revis duel. It promises to be must-see TV.

"That will be an interesting matchup," Bills coach Perry Fewell said. "I think in the first

matchup it was a hard-fought battle between both of those guys. Both of them are competitors.

I think you will see the very best out of not only T.O., but Revis. We'll just have to find

out what happens on Thursday night."

Revis, a third-year player who made the Pro Bowl last season, won the first matchup in Week

Six. Owens was held to only three catches for 13 yards in the Bills' 16-13 overtime win.

But Owens hinted that things might be different Thursday night.

"I know it was pretty physical the last time we played them," he said after practice

Tuesday. "But they are not going to be faced with the same team that they saw the first time.

I hope they don't think they are going to see the same me that they saw the first time."

Owens certainly isn't the same player who was underutilized during the early portion of the

season. But after a very slow start, he has picked up the pace with 14 catches for 293 yards

and two touchdowns in the Bills' last two games. Compare that to the first nine contests, when

he had 26 receptions for 366 yards and one touchdown.

Owens' output has increased noticeably since the Bills decided to start quarterback Ryan

Fitzpatrick ahead of Trent Edwards.

A radio reporter approached Owens in the locker room last Wednesday and asked him what he

was thankful for on the eve of Thanksgiving. As Owens departed, he replied, "I'm thankful for

Ryan Fitzpatrick."

Owens and Fitzpatrick have clicked far better than Owens did with Edwards.

"There have been opportunities where I could have been doing that all throughout the year,"

Owens said of his recent run of big games. "If you ever followed my career and you go back to

the way I was utilized in offenses, I was thrown to a number of times. I don't know what that

number is, but it was far more than I was accustomed to here the first half of the season.

When my opportunities are limited, it limits me as far as my playmaking ability.

"Now with Fitz back there, there are opportunities. He's definitely allowed us to make some

plays down the field, and that's all I ever wanted. I feel like I'm a part of the offense,

whereas earlier those feelings and those opportunities I didn't feel they were there."

The Jets will count on Revis to keep Owens' playmaking opportunities to a bare minimum. With

all due respect to Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha and Denver's Champ Bailey, Revis is gaining

league-wide acclaim as the best shutdown cornerback in the NFL.

The list of elite receivers he has muted is impressive: New England's Randy Moss (nine

catches for 58 yards in two games), Houston's Andre Johnson (four catches, 34 yards), New

Orleans' Marques Colston (two catches, 33 yards) and Carolina's Steve Smith (one catch, 5

yards).

When Jacksonville's Mike Sims-Walker caught an early touchdown, the Jets put Revis on the

young receiver in the second half and he had one grab for 9 yards the rest of the game.

"Coach [Rex] Ryan says you've got this guy this week, and I cover them to the best of my

ability," Revis said Tuesday during a conference call. "Some of these guys are deep threats

and they're a big part of their offenses. They are the go-to guys. [Their teams] want to get

them the ball.

"My job is just to cover them as best I can and try to stop them from making big-time

plays. Usually, these top receivers are catching eight or nine balls for 180 yards and two or

three touchdowns. My job is to try and limit that, make them not the reason why we lose the

game."

Revis, a 2007 first-round draft pick, is a physical 5-foot-11, 198-pound corner who excels

at jamming receivers at the line of scrimmage and disrupting the timing of their routes. He

has great recovery speed, outstanding ball skills and is a solid tackler in run support.

Although teams rarely throw in his direction, Revis still has a team-high four

interceptions to go with 21 passes defended and 53 tackles.

"He's pretty solid. Very competitive," Owens said. "He's one of those guys that can play on

an island by himself and well deserving because of his skills. At the start of the game the

last time we played he tried to get a little physical. I welcome that. That's part of my game.

I'm not a stranger to competition. Definitely, it gives me the luxury and the opportunity to

go up against a guy like that. We'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to it."

So is Revis.

"This is what I signed up for and I can't wait," he said. "Terrell Owens is a great

receiver. I have watched him before, so I'm very familiar with this guy, and I'm sure it's

going to be a fun game."