The New Orleans Saints were down to their final shot at staying in playoff contention in Week 11, and they managed to grind out a much needed victory over the Los Angeles Rams when they needed it the most. The 27-20 victory pushes the Saints record on the season to 4-7, ensuring that they can't be counted out just yet in the NFC South.

The Saints have dealt with tons of injuries this season, but it looks like they are finally beginning to get healthy for the second half of the season. Getting key pieces back helps, but they need to play well if you intend on winning. In Week 11, it certainly looks like the Saints got some great performances across the board from their entire team.

Winning one game is big, but the Saints will have to string some wins together if they want to continue to win moving forward. But for now, New Orleans will relish their victory over the Rams. With the game officially in the books, let's go back and look at our report card for the Saints performance in Week 11 and hand out some final grades.

New Orleans Saints offensive grade: A-

The Saints offense hasn't been fully healthy all season long, and they won't ever be with Michael Thomas out for the season now. But they still have enough impact players on their roster to make some serious noise when they want to, and New Orleans appears to finally be turning the corner after some ugly outings.

With Andy Dalton's status as the team's starter being questioned, he turned in maybe his best outing of the season. Dalton was outstanding against the Rams (21/25, 260 YDS, 3 TD), and powered the Saints to the win in this one. He continues to have a strong connection with Chris Olave (5 REC, 102 YDS, 1 TD) which gives the Saints a solid base to work with.

The ground game wasn't super effective, with Alvin Kamara failing to find much room to work with. Taysom Hill actually led the Saints with 52 rushing yards on nine carries, which isn't the worst thing, but New Orleans needs to find a way to keep Kamara involved in their offense at all times in future games. Other than that, there wasn't much to complain about for the Saints in this game.

Standout performer: Andy Dalton

It's tough to give this to anyone other than Dalton, who had a superb game with his back against the wall. The calls for Jameis Winston to return under center were growing, but Dalton rewarded head coach Dennis Allen's faith, and turned in a stellar outing. While it's nice to see him perform in this game, Dalton will have to keep playing at this high level if the Saints really intend on making a playoff push in the second half of the season.

New Orleans Saints defensive grade: B

The Saints defense got let off the hook a bit here when Matthew Stafford was forced out of the game with a concussion midway through the third quarter, as he had been having a very strong outing prior to his departure. Had he not gotten injured, there's a chance the Saints wouldn't have managed to win this game.

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The Rams ended up being forced to turn things over to third-stringer Bryce Perkins with John Wolford being inactive for this game, and the Saints did what they were expected to do in shutting down Los Angeles with Stafford out. Perkins couldn't lead a comeback, and after letting Stafford get off to a good start, the Saints defense turned things around and managed to find a way to win this game.

There were some concerns raised from this game, as the Rams offense managed to get points on the board despite their season-long struggles. Stafford got anything he wanted early on, and the ground game had some success in this one, with Cam Akers leading the way with 61 yards on 14 carries. But a win is a win, and while it wasn't the best defensive outing from New Orleans, they did what needed to be done in this one.

Standout performer: Kaden Elliss

Kaden Elliss has found himself with a bigger role in the Saints defense in recent weeks, and he will continue to play a big role in New Orleans' defense after this outing in Week 11. Elliss led the Saints with 11 tackles, one of which went for a loss, while also picking up 1.5 sacks, a pass deflected, and two quarterback hits. Elliss was all over the place on defense for New Orleans, and his all around effort helped New Orleans shut down the Rams offense in the second half.