Injury-Free Peete Leads Lions : NFC: Former USC star has career highs of 316 passing yards and four touchdowns in 38-21 victory over Bears.

There are two things Rodney Peete has to do to keep the Detroit Lions’ high-tech offense humming: Avoid injuries and stay out of the coach’s doghouse.

When Peete is clicking, as he was Sunday night, the Lions are a different team.

Peete had career highs of 316 passing yards and four touchdowns as the Lions beat Chicago, 38-21, putting a serious dent in the Bears’ chances for a first-round bye in the NFL playoffs.

The Bears (10-4) lost their second straight to fall a game behind the New York Giants (11-3) in the NFC. Chicago would need to win both remaining games while the Giants lose both of theirs to avoid playing a wild-card team in the first round of playoffs.

“That was pretty tough on us,” Chicago Coach Mike Ditka said. “I can’t dwell on that. I’ve got to dwell on what’s ahead of us. But, boy, I’ll tell you, it hurts.

“It hurts you, it hurts me and it hurts them (the players).”

Peete, the former USC star who was a sixth-round draft choice in 1989, completed 18 of 27 passes with two interceptions as the Lions (5-9) avenged a 23-17 overtime loss at Chicago’s Soldier Field two weeks ago. In that game, Detroit Coach Wayne Fontes yanked Peete in the third quarter in favor of backup Bob Gagliano.

“It’s been pretty frustrating because I’ve been hurt a lot this season,” Peete said. “The only way to really get better is to be in there week after week.

“Today, I was able to see some things correctly and hit the right guys at the right time. Hopefully, this game will be a big part of my improvement.”

In the second quarter, Peete threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Robert Clark, a 44-yarder to Richard Johnson and a one-yarder to Clark as the Lions overcame a 7-0 deficit to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

“I think Rodney Peete has confidence,” Fontes said. “He’s only played about 17 games in his two years. I’ve said all along that when he’s healthy, Rodney Peete’s my quarterback--at this time.”

Peete hooked up with Terry Greer on a 68-yard scoring play in the third quarter, Barry Sanders had a one-yard touchdown run in the fourth and Eddie Murray, who became the first player in Lion history to score 1,000 points, kicked a 26-yard field goal.

For the Bears, Brad Muster had a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, Richard Dent returned a third-quarter fumble 45 yards for a touchdown and Peter Tom Willis tossed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Wendell Davis.

“We’ll put tonight behind us,” Ditka said. “I can’t dwell on the past. I can just dwell on the future.”

Jim Harbaugh completed only four of 11 passes for 28 yards for Chicago before going out with a dislocated right shoulder on his fourth sack with 6:09 left in the third quarter.

The Lions’ defense, last overall in the NFL, held the Bears to 225 yards while Detroit was rolling up 411 yards against Chicago’s normally tough defense.

The Bears’ Neal Anderson rushed for 100 yards in 22 carries, giving him 1,010 for the season--his third consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.

Chicago rookie Mark Carrier, another former Trojan, had his ninth interception, tying a club record set by Roosevelt Taylor in 1963. Carrier leads the NFC in interceptions.