Andrew Whitworth has a proven concept of how a first-time NFL coach should build their team.

Step one: build a solid front three in front of a young quarterback to allow him to grow. Next, add a defensive coordinator with head coaching experience he can lean on. Then, finally, you can really begin to implement your vision and ideas within the team.

It’s what Sean McVay did in Los Angeles in 2017, signing Whitworth and Austin Blythe as guards and John Sullivan at center. McVay brought veteran coach Wade Phillips as his defensive coordinator. The Rams reached the playoffs that season for the first time in 13 years.

Sound familiar?

[READ: How Bears defense hopes to stop Eagles’ Tush Push on Black Friday]

It’s the formula Ben Johnson has taken with the Bears this year. They signed center Drew Dalman on a three-year contract from Atlanta, traded for and extended guard Joe Thuney from Kansas City and traded for guard Jonah Jackson from the Rams. Johnson added former New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen as his defensive coordinator, and the team is 8-3 heading into a Black Friday showdown in Philadelphia against the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

“I give a lot of credit [to Johnson],” Whitworth said on a videoconference call previewing the Black Friday showdown on Amazon Prime. “I look at this Bear situation very similar, in my opinion, to 2017 when Sean McVay went to LA.”  

Johnson was touted for his offensive prowess and creativity after serving as the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator. But before he could really jump fully into the offensive principles he believes in, Whitworth believed he needed to build the right environment for the Bears offense – and especially second-year quarterback Caleb Williams – to thrive in.

“‘Once I give you the actual space to go have growth and go have the opportunity to have success, now we’ll get to the things I’m going to want you to do, the things I’m going to want you to improve on, and how the identity we’re going to have with an offense,’” the 16-year offensive tackle said. “To me, that showed me that he had a real belief in his system.”

The results have been staggering.

After a 0-2 start, the Bears have won eight of their last nine games and hold the second spot in the NFC standings, behind the Eagles. McVay finished that 2017 campaign 11-5, with an exit in the NFC Wild Card round and being named the Coach of the Year.

He went 13-3 in 2018, losing Super Bowl LIII to the New England Patriots. They won Super Bowl LVI over the Cincinnati Bengals.

That, to Whitworth at least, gives him confidence about the Bears thus far.

“To me, some of those moves that he made told me, this guy gets it. He gets what it takes,” Whitworth said. “The Ben Johnson moves, I thought he’s the real deal. Seeing he did that, the mentality he had for that, and really where they’ve done, I give a ton of credit to him, because I think it’s his vision that has put them in this position to go have success.”