Near perfection ... total domination

An imperfect start — yes, another head-scratching timeout — provided only a pre-Halloween scare for Bears fans.

Near perfection from their team followed in the opening quarter.

And by Sunday night’s end, the perfect kick-return weapon — Devin Hester — added to his NFL record for touchdown returns, as the Bears cruised to a 39-10 win at chilly Soldier Field.

“Devin is a weapon,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “I’ve never seen anyone like him. ... It used to surprise me. Not anymore. Now you expect him to break it everytime.”

So much for that silly timeout 36 seconds into the game being a factor. After burning all three of their first-half timeouts before the opening quarter of their Monday night game against Detroit ended, the Bears called their first against Minnesota as the Vikings were lining up to run the game’s second play from scrimmage.

But the Vikings went three-and-out, and then the Bears began to dominate in all three phases.

The offense needed just three plays to score, with Jay Cutler’s play-action pass finding a sprinting Hester, who got behind cornerback Cedric Griffin and safety Husain Abdullah to haul in a 48-yard pass in the end zone.

The lead quickly grew to 9-0 when rookie defensive tackle Stephen Paea, making his NFL debut, sacked Donovan McNabb in the end zone for a safety. Marion Barber’s 3-yard touchdown run had the Bears up 16-0 with 3:39 left in the opening quarter.

Bears fans might have wanted to call a timeout — to soak up maybe the best quarter of football they’ve seen from their team in a long while.

Consider this near perfection from the home team in the first 15 minutes:

Ÿ Jay Cutler’s passer-efficiency rating was 153.6 (perfect is 158.3). He completed 6 of 8 passes for 95 yards, had the TD heave to Hester and didn’t throw an interception.

Ÿ The troubled offensive line not only didn’t allow a sack but didn’t commit a false-start penalty, after being flagged for seven against Detroit.

Ÿ The Bears didn’t have to burn a timeout because they couldn’t get an offensive play in.

Ÿ The wide-receiving group didn’t drop a pass and, for a change, got open.

Ÿ The defense didn’t allow a big play and limited Adrian Peterson to 14 rushing yards on 6 carries, despite newbies Chris Conte and Major Wright starting at free and strong safety, respectively, in place of the benched duo of Brandon Meriweather and Chris Harris (healthy inactive).

Minnesota trimmed the Bears’ lead to 26-10 early in the third quarter, but Hester returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for his 16th career TD return on a kickoff, not counting his one in Super Bowl XLI and his one on a missed field goal.

Hester shed a tackle by Larry Dean near the 20-yard line, juked kicker Ryan Longwell, who swung and missed near the 50, and won a sprint to the end zone.

That was about as perfect as kick returns go.