Seeing Russell Wilson win a showdown against Tom Brady in Foxborough — and how he did it — was a reminder of how the Seattle quarterback's career arc is mirroring that of the New England passer. Nobody could have seen that coming, including Wilson and the Seahawks.

To be fair, though, nobody saw Brady’s career arc coming, either, including the Patriots.

But there they were Sunday night, the Patriots fighting to keep the best record in the NFL with an offense built around Brady and his skills. That remains a far cry from his earliest days in the 2000s, when their running game and defense defined them and Brady was not a game manager, but also not the quarterbacking gold standard he is now.

Guess what other team’s offense has evolved the same way in their quarterback’s first five years.

MARVEZ: What we learned about Seahawks, Patriots

As under-appreciated as the full array of his passing skills have been over his career, what Wilson has shown since last season has taken his reputation on a 180-degree turn. Even when it was said to praise him instead of disparage him, his first three seasons were all about how his success was all due to a rugged running game, an elite defense and his own elusiveness that kept him from having to throw a lot.

That defense is still in full effect, clearly. The running game has been a patchwork effort since last year when Marshawn Lynch limped through his final season and Thomas Rawls’ promising rookie season ended with a broken ankle. The less said about the offensive line and how the Seahawks have failed to develop it, the better.

It hasn’t mattered … because Wilson now wins games, pressures defenses and establishes the Seahawks’ identity with his arm — how he throws the ball, not how he rides his teammates’ coattails.

Very much like Brady did as time went on.

WATCH: Wilson rips Patriots defense to shreds

By Year 5, Brady had been to three Super Bowls (winning them all) and was the Patriots’ offensive foundation — and the one constant while every other position on both sides of the ball became a revolving door. On offense, the names and faces have changed constantly, but the numbers, his production and his indispensable role has never changed.

In Year 5, Wilson has been to the Super Bowl twice, winning once, and the Seahawks have followed a similar blueprint: as many of the names change around him, his portion of the offense has grown, and so have his responsibilities.

Thus, where skeptics once wondered aloud if he could play consistently well from the pocket, if he could survive without Beast Mode and Co. to play off of and whether all his running would catch up to him one day, Wilson has shown what he can do when more of the burden has been shifted to him.

As it was pointed out here after the Seahawks’ 31-24 win Sunday night, they set the tempo and tone with pieces fitting around Wilson — and he carved the Patriots up. Not that long ago (basically, before last season), if he had to throw more than 30 times, that was a bad sign, and his critics often joked about how often he barely made it past 200 yards passing. On Sunday, he threw 37 times, gained 348 yards and, for the 13th time in the last 16 games, had no interceptions.

In fact, over those 16 games, dating back to a 2015 Week 10 win over the 49ers, Wilson has thrown 32 touchdowns and three interceptions. The win over the Patriots was the eighth time in that span that he’s had at least three touchdown passes with no interceptions in a game.

MORE: 15 all-time greatest Seahawks players

The Seahawks are 12-3-1 over those 16 games.

They could go back to their old formula if they like, and if one of this year’s running-back finds truly blossoms. But why should they?

The Russell Wilson formula works just fine. Very much like the Tom Brady formula did.