Nick Foles needs to improve deep pass

Nick Foles is certainly getting his chance to prove that he's the quarterback of the future for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Needless to say, Foles is being evaluated by Philadelphia's front office -- and by Philadelphia's fans and analysts. Philly.com's Zach Berman raised questions about Foles' ability following Philadelphia's Week 15 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football.

Berman noted one pass in particular -- a deep pass down the sideline intended for Jeremy Maclin that needed to travel 34 yards, but instead was thrown 31 yards, and intercepted.

Despite the one poor throw, it doesn't look like Foles is incapable of the deep pass. Berman dug up some interesting statistics:

Foles has completed 8 of 22 passes (36.3 percent) that traveled beyond 20 yards this season for 226 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. His percentage is actually above average in the NFL. The NFL average for passes that travel 20 or more yards in the air is 30.7 percent this season. It was 30.3 percent last season.

For comparison, Michael Vick was 11 of 36 (30.5 percent) for 364 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions this season

The numbers seem to illustrate that Foles is perfectly capable passer when it comes to deep passes.

As Berman notes, Foles is also playing without Philadelphia's top deep threat, DeSean Jackson.

Still, Foles seems to shy away from the deep passes -- which Berman notes could be a concern for the Eagles going forward. If Foles is going to be Philadelphia's franchise quarterback, he'll have to prove he's capable of burning a defense deep.