User:Cameronsimons24/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
1977–78 NFL playoffs - Wikipedia

Why have you chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because I have a strong interest in football and was unable to find something communications related, so instead I have decided to take what I have learned in this class so far about criticism and Wikipedia and applying them to this assignment.

Evaluate the article
The lead section of the article does exactly what it is supposed to do by introducing what the Wiki page is going to be about. The most important things about the article, and in this case who won the Super Bowl is also said in the introduction paragraph. The introduction does not however provide any information on what all of the sections will be about such as the games played that are talked about within the 1977-1978 playoffs.

The Content given in the sections of each game is displayed well. Iconic moments such as "Ghost to the Post" along with player names with links attached to many of the names is included. I am not sure if it the intent or not, but the Super Bowl is part of the NFL playoffs and is left off of the page but is brought up in the introduction but there is a link at the bottom taking the reader to the Super Bowl.

The article is very neutral because it is a very informational topic with the playoffs. However, some of the paragraphs, such as the Raiders vs Broncos game has much more content than the other games. This is likely from a lack of research of the other games which is possibly bias but there is no bias wording or phrasing within the page.

This page has many references to other sources which is definitely needed throughout the games. The stats have to come from sources and sources are listed for the players but sources for the games are not. This is likely a reason for while this is a "B Class Grade" article. The links that are connected to the names of players that are listed do work and are connected to their respected Wiki page. There can certainly be better sources because a lack of sourcing from the article makes the information appear to be unreliable while all of the information may be factual.

The article is well organized as it explained the formatting through diagrams and explanations of how the playoff structure was and how it was also the last 8 team playoff for the NFL. The AFC games are color coded in red and the NFC games are color coded in blue which is the conferences respected colors. The wording of the article can be at times a little choppy with the sentences which can come from wanting to be informational and not bias. Something that would certainly help this page is having the information of when things were happening such as how much time was left in the 4th quarter when the Raiders scored.

The article does include images for the games such as the Purple People Eaters who are an iconic defensive line for the Vikings along with Broncos Orange Crush defense. However, these are the only 2 photographs in the article and more would certainly make it better such as one capturing the Ghost to the Post (Dave Casper). The graphs that are used do help fill the void for not having pictures but having pictures is definitely much more appealing. The graphs and charts should stay, but more pictures should be added.

The talk page appears to be your average football fans arguing with one another. It consists of people talking about "the bullshit call" which is clearly fans just angry about the outcome of the game. The Wiki page could maybe include that there is controversy over a play call, but make sure that it stays factual, and sources will be required and cited for this to be possibly included. The article is given a B class grade and is of high importance. The conversation on this topic is very unprofessional compared to how we talk about things in class with a lack of evidence and is rather simply ranting.

My overall impressions match up with the grade of the article. There are certainly things to make it better such as adding more pictures, cleaning up choppy sentences, adding more game context, adding more sources, but is still overall a very important informational piece that can be beneficial for anyone who has interest. The context of the Purple People Eaters and the Orange Crush defense along with the Ghost to the Post are all iconic NFL moments or defenses that is very valuable. This article is certainly well developed and is very close to becoming a very highly graded page but may take some time since it has no been edited in 10 1/2 years.