The good feelings barely lasted through halftime. On the opening kickoff of the second half, Saints return specialist Courtney Roby raced 97 yards untouched.

In just 11 seconds, the Saints moved ahead 21-14.

So the Rams offense remains under pressure to keep up.

On the first Rams play from scrimmage, receiver Brandon Gibson took a short Bulger pass and darted up field for a 20-yard gain. He already has four catches for 50 yards in this game.

Fans can see why Rams GM Billy Devaney traded veteran linebacker Will Witherspoon to get Gibson plus a draft pick before the trade deadline.

Alas, Bulger and Gibson didn’t connect on a third-and-9 play, as Bulger scrambled and tried to lead his receiver with a pass down right sideline — overthrowing him in the process.

And back came the Saints, with Pierre Thomas rushing for 11 yards and Drew Brees firing a 26-yard pass to Devery Henderson. New Orleans seemed poised to bust the game open.

But then safety James Butler intercepted an overthrown Brees pass and return it to the Rams 40, giving the Rams another chance to pull even.

On a third-and-9 play, Bulger connected with Gibson for another first down. On a second-and-2 play, Bulger scrambled around and bought enough time to locate tight end Daniel Fells on the Saints 21.

On first down, the Saints got away with defensive holding and prevented Donnie Avery from catching a quick pass from Bulger.

How do all the officials miss a tugging Avery’s jersey through most of his route?

On second down, Jackson plowed the ball to the New Orleans 14. On third-and-3, the Rams tried a throw back pass to tight Randy McMichael . . . but the Saints didn’t bite.

The pass was there, but so was the coverage. So the Rams had to settle for three points.

Josh Brown’s 32-yard field goal cut the New Orleans lead to 21-17.

The Saints stormed back with Reggie Bush’s 55-yard moving the ball into scoring position. He blew through a hole and was off to the races.

Again, the Saints seemed ready to take command of the game. But Rams safety O.J. Atogwe broke up a would-be Drew Brees-to-Marques Colston TD pass to keep his team alive.

When Colston tried to vault over Atogwe at the goal line and score, Atogwe drove his helmet into the ball and sent it flying. The ball bounced into the end zone, then out of bounds — returning the ball to the Rams on a touchback.

The Rams failed to convert this break into points, departing the field with a three-and-out sequence.