Quick-hit thoughts around Patriots, NFL

Quick-hit thoughts around the NFL and with the New England Patriots: I believe what we saw Saturday in the Patriots’ 35-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens was the most exciting playoff game in the 13-year history of Gillette Stadium.

It takes resilience to be the first team in NFL playoff history — and just the third team overall — to come back from two different 14-point deficits, as the Patriots did Saturday against the Ravens.

29 (another great football environment, but hard to appreciate if a Patriots follower) was the first indication we received that the 2014 Patriots had this characteristic.

I’ve been following Ryan’s next step closely because I’ve thought that if he takes a head-coaching job instead of going into broadcasting that could mean significant competition for the Patriots to retain Darrelle Revis in free agency.

As a reporter who always respected the passion and energy with which Pepper Johnson coached, not to mention the connection many Patriots players had with him, I was happy to hear that he earned an interview with the Giants for their vacant defensive coordinator post.

I think one of the reasons Johnson left the Patriots after the 2013 season was to put himself in a better position to become a coordinator, which he’s coveted for some time now.

As coaching staffs begin to be formed across the NFL in the coming weeks, it’s hard for me to imagine too many former players being a better fit for an entry-level position than Steve Gregory.

He was one of the smartest players to come through the Patriots’ locker room in Belichick’s tenure, and when we caught up last week, it was no surprise that he is interested in pursuing an NFL coaching career.

Jeremy Mincey, the 2006 sixth-round draft choice of the Patriots who never played a regular-season game in New England before reviving his career with Jacksonville (2007-2013), has been a 16-game starter for the Cowboys this season as the primary replacement for free-agent defection DeMarcus Ware.