It was up to the defense to keep the momentum going.

They answered the bell.

J.J. McCarthy and Co. scored their first touchdown early in the fourth quarter after a slogging start, cutting the deficit to 17-12, Bears.

Eric Wilson put a nice tackle on Chicago's Devin Duvernay on the ensuing kickoff return, then immediately got back on the field on defense, stepping in for an injured Blake Cashman and donning the "green dot" helmet to relay calls.

On the first play of the series, Javon Hargrave came busting through the middle and hit Caleb Williams head-on, sacking him for a loss of 7.

Next play? Wilson stopped D'Andre Swift behind the line of scrimmage.

Williams tried again on third-and-19, and Andrew Van Ginkel got a hand on it, practically smelling the potential pick six as Minnesota forced Chicago into a three-and-punt.

A lot was demanded of the Vikings defense, but Wilson especially brought the juice en route to a wild, come-from-behind defeat of the Bears on Monday Night Football.

"He's a psycho," texted Wilson's proud former teammate, Anthony Barr, who watched the game from his California home "very, very retired" with a glass of wine in-hand.

Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell tipped his cap to Wilson postgame, saying that's exactly why the team brought him back to Minnesota this spring.

"You're always looking for that veteran presence, and he's a player that — I don't know if we win the football game unless you have Eric Wilson to not only, I mean, he had the [partially] blocked punt, but just the way he goes in and he's green-dottin' and calling it," O'Connell said. "You want to see a prototype of a veteran guy that helps your football team win by any means necessary? It's Eric Wilson."

Minnesota forced Chicago to punt six times, including on four occasions in the second half.

Williams felt the pressure early on, but it took a while for the Vikings to get home. They kept at it, though, kept rattling the second-year QB, and it started to pay off when it most counted.

"They're going to make plays," Jonathan Greenard said. "We've just gotta be fine with that, understanding that they can't keep doing that every time. They've got to eventually … take some risk.

"They did it, and they eventually came to us, and we made some plays," Greenard added. "'Grave got that sack early in the fourth, and then we definitely just kept setting them back and threw them off track."

Minnesota trailed by just four points heading into halftime against all odds, and it forced a quick three-and-punt by Chicago to start the third quarter.

McCarthy threw a pick six to former Viking Nahshon Wright on the next series, followed by another short-lived offensive drive capped by a punt.

But the defense kept buying time, forcing another Bears punt and then continuing to rattle Williams on an ensuing drive that ended with a failed 50-yard field goal attempt to start the fourth quarter.

A McCarthy-to-Justin-Jefferson touchdown early in the fourth quarter gave Brian Flores' crew the last bit of fuel needed to take it up one more notch; they wreaked havoc for Williams and the Bears offense down the final stretch.

McCarthy thanked the defense during his postgame interview with ESPN's Lisa Salters, saying "they had our back" all night. But the feeling certainly went both ways.

"[McCarthy] was walking to the locker room saying he got us, and he did," Hargrave said. "He kept his head up and kept motivating us."

Hargrave left Soldier Field with the team's two sacks. The big man put his athleticism on display in his first game for Minnesota, finishing with five tackles, two tackles for loss and a QB hit.

Hargrave noted Williams' ability to extend plays and evade pressure.

"This was really my first game going against him," the veteran said. "He's real sneaky, fast, elusive. He can get out of a whole bunch of stuff."

Williams did get out of the pocket several times early on, as noted, and the QB finished as the Bears leading rusher with 58 yards on the ground. He also scored a rushing touchdown. Swift was limited to 53 yards on 17 carries (3.1 average), and DJ Moore added three rushes for 8 yards.

Moore led Chicago with 68 receiving yards on just three catches, but Williams spread the ball around. He connected with Rome Odunze six times for 37 yards and a touchdown, and with Olamide Zaccheaus four times for 42 yards.

Williams finished the evening 21-of-35 passing for 210 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating was 86.6.

Van Ginkel, Isaiah Rodgers and Ivan Pace, Jr. joined Hargrave with five tackles apiece, while Joshua Metellus led the Vikings with six. Van Ginkel added two passes defensed and a tackle for loss, and rookie Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins knocked down one of Williams' throws midway through the second quarter. Ingram-Dawkins also leapt to add interior pressure on the missed field goal.

Wilson had three tackles and the TFL, in addition to making plays on special teams that included the partially blocked punt (not officially counted in stats because the ball crossed the line of scrimmage) late in the game mentioned by O'Connell, who noted Wilson's performance during his postgame locker room speech.

"He was just flying around," Aaron Jones, Sr., said of Wilson. "It's so cool to see. I played against him, I played with him [in Green Bay], I played against him again last year and now I'm playing with him again. He's an energy guy. That's what he brings.

"Even if he's not out there making the play, he's bringing energy to the sideline," Jones added. "It couldn't happen to a better person. I'm happy for him."

Asked afterward about his impact on the game, Wilson humbly shrugged it off.

"Just a matter of, you've gotta be ready and do a great job communicating," he said. "Play ball. Be in the right spot.

"It's just a brotherhood, man, to fight through that adversity and keep pushing, keep moving forward," Wilson added. "I think we did a good job playing some complementary football. Bringing some juice on defense, helping the offense out, special teams helping out the defense, all that. We work together on this team."

As the 1-0 Vikings head back home to Minnesota, they'll quickly turn the page on a short week to the Falcons, whom they'll host on Sunday Night Football in the home opener.

O'Connell said Cashman's hamstring injury will be evaluated, and of course the hope will be to have him back in the lineup. But if he can't go, there's no doubt Wilson will do what he does best: make plays.

As O'Connell said, "We're fired up to have him, fired up that we were able to bring him back, and he's already clearly had a monumental impact."

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