When I attempted to accelerate, I heard a loud knocking sound?

I bought my car used and it was running good, and I had lost the key. I bought a new key after a few months, and I took it for a drive. A few minutes into the drive the car stopped moving as I was giving gas, and I heard a loud knocking sound. I stopped on the side of the road and put it in park, and the transmission wouldn’t shift into drive. When I tried to shift ther transmission in drive, the car wouldn’t start making the knocking noise. I found that the noise was coming from the rear differentials. I think the bearings and bushings might be broken. Is there a way to drive the car without the rear end? Please let me know and also please let me know what could be wrong. Thank you.