MINNEAPOLIS -- Stop Cris Carter on the night he's gunning for his 1,000th career catch? The Lions never had a chance -- or the manpower -- to stop the Vikings wide receiver.

	How long before Charlie Batch is looking over his shoulder in Detroit?

For awhile there, it looked like the Lions would have a tough time covering Jimmy Carter, much less compete with the seemingly invincible Vikings, in Thursday night's 24-17 loss at the Metrodome.

Already without starting safeties Kurt Schulz and Ron Rice, the Lions had the services of shutdown cornerback Bryant Westbrook for only seven plays when he suffered a season-ending left Achilles tendon injury on Minnesota's first drive.

The Lions then found themselves without their starting quarterback. Charlie Batch reaggravated his rib injury from Detroit's 34-9 Thanksgiving Day win over New England, causing Stoney Case to play the final three quarters.

The banged-up Broncos might be winning with backups these days, but the Lions found out how tough a feat it actually is.

"I think our players played hard," said Detroit head coach Gary Moeller, who suffered his first loss in four games since replacing Bobby Ross. "But we don't want a consulation prize. We want to win.

"I will give them an A for effort, and I like that in them. I think we got some fight in the team."

The Lions looked to be caught in a total mismatch with their defensive secondary three-fourths full of second-stringers against Carter and Randy Moss. Joining starting cornerback Terry Fair were Darnell Walker (Westbrook's replacement), free safety Corwin Brown and strong safety Kywin Supernaw.

To their credit, the Vikings didn't leave the Lions shellshocked like they did in the teams' first meeting -- a 31-24 Minnesota victory featuring two TD bombs to Moss. This time, Moss only had three catches for 26 yards, and Daunte Culpepper, pressured throughout the second half by Detroit's pass rush, was held to a season-low 160 yards passing to go with two interceptions.

	“	They knew we only had six DB's available for the game. So as soon as one guy goes down, they know we can't go dime. I'm sure that played a factor in their formations. ”
		— Kywin Supernaw, Lions strong safety

"They knew we only had six DB's available for the game," said Supernaw, who was informed of his first start just before game time. "So as soon as one guy goes down, they know we can't go dime. I'm sure that played a factor in their formations. We were playing some regular defense against their four wides."

Case's scrambling presented a problem for the Vikings. He took off for dear life four times in the fourth quarter, including a gutsy 27-yarder in which he barely eluded a head-hunting Tyrone Carter, but Case, with Detroit trailing 17-10, couldn't escape the grasp of Talance Sawyer on a do-or-die fourth-and-10 from midfield with 3:15 remaining.

Case finished with respectable numbers in relief of Batch. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 230 yards, 40 coming on a Hail Mary to Larry Foster with 13 seconds left.

"I thought he did a lot of good things," Moeller said of Case. "Obviously, it's a tough time to come in with the pressure and all of that, but I wish we would have gotten a couple of sacks and would have converted a couple of first downs and scored there to make it 21-21."

Schulz, who rested a bad ankle, believes the Lions can't allow the setback or rash of injuries affect their playoff push. At 8-5, they're still very much in the wild-card hunt.

"Guys who come in have to step up their games and play well," Schulz said. "That's all about winning and having a winning organization. Guys go down and guys have to come in and play great."

Under the circumstances, the Lions' backups did the best they could.

Joe Lago is the NFL editor for ESPN.com.