NEW ORLEANS -- The Los Angeles Rams arrived in New Orleans knowing they needed Jared Goff to throw the ball downfield to have a chance against a top-ranked Saints offense.

But seven touchdowns was way too much to ask.

That's what it took to keep up with Drew Brees and the Saints, who torched the Rams' defense for a whopping 555 yards from scrimmage and beat them handily, 49-21. The Rams' defense allowed an NFL-low 253 yards per game from Weeks 7-11, but gave up two very late touchdowns in a heartbreaking loss to the Miami Dolphins last Sunday and allowed the Saints to reach the end zone on seven of their first 11 possessions in Week 12.

It was the most points the Rams had given up since Week 14 of the 2002 season to the Kansas City Chiefs, who also put up 49 points then.

The Rams are now 4-7, their playoff chances pretty much extinguished after dropping six of seven games for the first time since Jeff Fisher became coach in 2012.

"We just have to keep fighting, man," Rams running back Todd Gurley said. "No matter what the record is, you don’t want to go out like little punks."

The positive -- and perhaps it's a little bit of a reach, given the final score -- was that the Rams' No. 1 overall pick made several nice throws and led a couple of impressive drives while making his first road start in a loud, hostile arena.

Goff began the game by leading the Rams 75 yards in less than three minutes, completing a beautiful 24-yard lob pass to Tavon Austin. He then threw a 6-yard pass to Kenny Britt on a slant route, immediately after Aaron Donald's strip-sack gifted the Rams optimal field possession. And then, just before the half, Goff capped an eight-play, 79-yard drive with a 15-yard pass to Lance Kendricks, making him the first Rams quarterback since Sam Bradford in 2010 with three touchdown passes in one half.

"I felt better out there," said Goff, who went 20-of-32 for 214 yards but also threw an interception and lost a fumble on a sack. "I was able to see it a lot better and was able to slow it down a little bit."

But Brees, who entered leading the NFL in passing yards at home, was far better. The 37-year-old went 28-of-36 for 310 yards and four touchdowns, with zero interceptions. With the Rams hyper-focused on stopping the Saints' trio of receivers -- Brandin Cooks, Michael Thomas and Willie Snead -- it was the others who contributed the most. It was Mark Ingram, who rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. And it was their tandem of tight ends, Coby Fleener and Josh Hill, who caught 10 passes for a combined 133 yards.

The last score came on a trick play -- a lateral to Snead, who found a wide-open Tim Hightower for a 50-yard touchdown pass.

It wasn't just the dagger. It was, potentially, a message from Saints coach Sean Payton to Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, the man he previously bumped heads with in New Orleans. Williams helped the Saints win a Super Bowl during the 2009 season. But he also entangled them in the Bountygate scandal, and Payton let his contract expire without a renewal.

“Everything they did was clicking," Rams cornerback Trumaine Johnson said of the Saints' offense. "We didn’t have no answer for them. Collectively, this might’ve been the worst game of our careers.”