Bradley Fletcher

St. Louis Rams 81 wide receiver Kenny Britt scores a touchdown against Philadelphia Eagles 24 cornerback Bradley Fletcher in the fourth quarter at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday, October 5, 2014. The Eagles won the game 34-28. (Martin Griff | Times of Trenton)

(Martin Griff)

PHILADELPHIA -- The Eagles' secondary hasn't played well all season and it turned in arguably its worst effort Sunday when the Eagles nearly threw away a victory but escaped with a 34-28 victory over the St. Louis Rams -- one week ahead of a pivotal showdown against the New York Giants and their suddenly hot receiving corps.

Thanks in large part to shoddy coverage on deep passes by quarterback Austin Davis, the Eagles watched a 27-point second-half lead evaporate into a six-point lead in the fourth quarter.

Had it not been for some critical drops by Rams receivers on the final drive of the game, the performances by Cary Williams and Bradley Fletcher could have been disasterous.

Davis, who went undrafted, threw for 357 yards and three touchdowns, and took turns picking on Williams and Fletcher.

“We’ve got to do better," Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis Jr. said after the game. "We know we have to. There’s no way you can let people come back on you in the second half like that. We have to go back and look hard at this film, look hard at ourselves, see what's wrong and fix it. It was a rough afternoon."

The Rams finished with 466 yards of offense -- 239 yards in the final 17 minutes, with 209 of those yards coming through the air.

“The second half of this game, the fourth quarter was awful,” Davis said. “It was awful, and there's no other way around that."

Williams echoed his coach's sentiments. Two weeks ago, Williams complained about being overworked in practice. This time, he was victimized in the game.

“Got to finish,” he said. “They made some plays and we weren’t able to finish when we needed to.

“Obviously, a win is a win and it’s great to get a win, but in that situation you don’t want to make it a dogfight at the end of the day. We didn’t play well to a degree, but we were able to finish when we needed to and we got it done at the end. Ultimately, we want to win, and that’s what matters and what counts.”

The obvious question becomes whether Williams and Fletcher are capable of playing any better. Nolan Carroll, whom the Eagles signed as a free-agent this off-season, might provide some consistency and stability. Had it not been for a preseason injury, it's possible Carroll -- a former Dolphins cornerback -- would have beaten out Fletcher for a starting job at the start of the regular season.

The Eagles survived against the Rams, as they did against the Jacksonville Jaguars earlier this season and the Washington Redskins two weeks ago.

But against Eli Manning and a receiving corps that boasts Victor Cruz and speedy rookie Odell Beckham Jr., who caught a touchdown in the first game of his career Sunday, it will take a better effort from the secondary for the Eagles to win.

Eventually the cornerbacks are going to need to make a big play and they haven't shown that ability. In actuality, they've been exposed as poor coverage men.

While the Eagles view Brandon Boykin as a slot corner, a change needs to be made on the outside -- sooner rather than later. But in spite of Fletcher and Williams' disastrous performances in recent weeks, Davis said he doesn't plan to make any adjustments to the starting lineup.

“Nolan’s a little nicked and Boykin’s coming off the hamstring," he explained. "So you’re in a spot where all hands on deck and we’ve got to play better with where we are."

The Eagles have now allowed 511 and 466 yards in their last two home games.

If Carroll turns out to be healthy enough, Davis needs to consider making a change ahead of Sunday night.

On Sunday, Fletcher was beaten regularly by the Rams receivers and this seems like the right time to plug Carroll into the starting lineup.

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