(Photo: marca.com)

For the JOU498 Narrative Analysis assignment, I decided to analyze and critique NESN’s news article about the New England Patriots opening the AFC Championship game at the Denver Broncos as -5.5 favorites.

This story is more of a news report because it is just stating that Vegas (which makes the sports betting odds) has the Patriots as favorites in the AFC Championship. There is not much detail as to why, or what factors went into the reason, it’s just reporting the fact of it, therefore, I am going to critique it and turn it into less of a news story and more of an analysis story.

To make this story better and to move away from the typical news report, I would include why the Patriots are 5.5 favorites. I would add in that Denver’s starting quarterback, Bo Nix, is out due to a broken ankle. On top of that, I would compare the two sides’ stats, Denver’s home record, New England’s away record, offensive and defensive rankings, etc.

I would open with the news that was presented above, the fact that New England is favored to win by 5.5 points. Then, I would start off by talking about Nix’s injury, because that plays as arguably the biggest factor of all. I would then add in my analysis and reasoning as to why the Patriots are -5.5, such as offensive and defensive rankings, also, the Patriots are undefeated (8-0) in road games this season, so I would add that in as well.

In terms of Peter Clark’s ‘Five W’s,’ there is a ton of information that would be valuable to my story.

WHO

The New England Patriots, the Denver Broncos, and the most impactful offensive and defensive players based off stats, rather than my opinion.

WHAT

I would talk about what is at stake here, because playoff football is basically a whole separate season itself.

WHEN & WHERE

I would include this at the bottom. Towards the top, I would include that the game is in Denver because that plays a big factor in the story, but at the bottom I would put “Empower Field at Mile High” as well as “3 p.m. ET on CBS/Paramount+,” to let fans know how to watch this game.

WHY

For the “why,” I would include why this is such a big game. The winner will go to the Super Bowl, the biggest American sporting event of all time, and have to win just one more game to be 2026 Super Bowl Champions and etched in history forever.

Finally, in terms of resources, I would get quotes from the Patriots, asking them about what it means to be favored on the road in such an intense and pressuring matchup. I would also get quotes from the Broncos about how it feels and what their mindset as they are set to host an AFC Championship game as underdogs.