NEW ORLEANS -- Trumaine Johnson sat in front of his locker in silence, his head buried in his hands and his entire uniform remaining untouched. When he finally emerged, the Los Angeles Rams' primary cornerback continually clung to one phrase while describing his team's 49-21 shellacking at the hands of the New Orleans Saints:

"We got our ass beat."

Yeah, pretty much.

A defense that gave up a combined 50 points in its previous four games gave up 49 of them in four quarters Sunday. A unit that gave up an NFL-best 253 yards per game from Weeks 7-11 gave up 555 in Week 12.

"We just had too many mistakes," Rams middle linebacker Alec Ogletree said, "and when you go against an offense like that, they're able to expose you. You can't have that."

Saints quarterback Drew Brees entered Sunday's game leading the NFL in passing yards per game at home, then went 28-of-36 for 310 yards and four touchdowns, leading his team into the end zone in seven of its first 11 possessions.

The Rams -- with all 22 original starters healthy for a fourth consecutive week -- were focused on stopping the Saints' trio of devastating receivers, a list that includes Michael Thomas, Brandin Cooks and Willie Snead. So Mark Ingram torched them on the ground, running for 146 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. And the Saints' two tight ends, Coby Fleener and Josh Hill, consistently got open, catching a combined 10 passes for 133 yards.

And then those receivers burned them anyway.

Cooks surprisingly wasn't targeted, but Thomas scored twice and caught nine passes for 108 yards. Then, up by three scores with barely over 10 minutes left in regulation, the Saints put the game out of reach with a gadget play, one that saw Snead take a lateral pass and throw to the other side of the field to a wide open Tim Hightower, completing a 50-yard play that decisively broke the Rams.

"We were just bad with our eyes," Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers said. "We lost track of their running back. It was good effort to the ball, everybody was trying to get to the receiver. Just a gadget play and they got us."

Several Rams players were asked if the Saints were trying to run up the score with that play, but none of them asserted as much.

"They're an offense, and they're trying to score points," safety T.J. McDonald said. "We don't see it as that."

But this was nonetheless a statement game for Saints coach Sean Payton, who essentially took control of the playcalling on offense and seemed to really enjoy running up points against Rams defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, a man he continually bumped heads with when Williams was in New Orleans. Payton celebrated in the direction of the Rams' sideline after a handful of scores, scripted that demoralizing trick play, kept Brees in with the game out of reach and later tweeted a clip for the song "Circle Of Life."

"It means something," Saints tackle Zach Strief said. "There's more there."

"He was fired up," Saints safety Kenny Vaccaro added. "We all know why."

Payton and Williams each downplayed the significance of their reunion in the days leading up to this game. But their three-year partnership from 2009 to '11, which included the only Super Bowl title in Saints history, ended on bad terms even before the infamous bounty scandal. Payton opted to let Williams' contract expire, feeling that his personality did not mesh with the rest of his staff. Then the Saints suffered unprecedented punishments for their alleged pay-for-injury scheme and Payton's animosity only grew, believing that Williams cooperated with the NFL's investigation.

Brockers described Williams as "very mellow" leading up to his return to Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and Rams coach Jeff Fisher called it "a normal week for Gregg in terms of preparation."

"There were no distractions," Fisher added. "He coached the way that he normally coaches, on the field and in meeting rooms. He motivated the guys. We just had a bad day."

The Rams ultimately gave up their highest point total since Week 14 of the 2002 season, when the Kansas City Chiefs did the same. It was the fifth-most points allowed by a Fisher-led team in his 22 years as an NFL head coach. The four touchdowns in the first half marked only the second time in 75 games that the Rams had given up that many under Fisher, with the other one being the 45-7 loss to the New England Patriots -- their next opponent -- in 2012.

It was a top-to-bottom debacle that left the Rams stunned.

"Any time you lose a game, you're going to be upset," said defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who provided one of few defensive highlights with his strip-sack of Brees. "It's about winning games in this league, and if you ain't winning, you ain't going to ever be happy. We're competitive people. We just have to try to find a way."