Chiefs Coach Andy Reid Defeats Bill Belichick, Showing The Divide ...

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick meet up ... [+] after their game on Dec. 8, 2019. (Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald)

After the Kansas City Chiefs defeated his team, New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick reached out his right hand and then hugged Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

Frequent draft day trading partners, the two coaching icons have great respect for each other.

In fact, the Chiefs had the ball at the Patriots’ four-yard line with 1:52 left but kneeled three times rather than run up the score.

Reid also praised Belichick throughout the week leading up to the game.

“Bill Belichick is arguably the greatest coach to have coached (in) the National Football League,” Reid said. “He proves it every year.”

Sunday’s game not only featured the two active NFL head coaches with the most wins, but it also represented the first time that two NFL head coaches with at least 250 wins faced off.

The 71-year-old Belichick has 332 total wins, including 31 in postseason, and the 65-year-old Reid, who improved to 5-7 against Belichick has 278 total wins, including 22 in postseason.

But their career trajectories seem headed in different directions.

Though he suffered two straight defeats and his Chiefs team still doesn’t look as crisp as in years past — they lost the turnover battle and had four dropped passes in the 27-17 win against the Patriots — Reid righted the ship, and his team is still in first place in the AFC West and poised to win an eighth straight division title.

He practically has tenure and can coach the Chiefs as long as he wants.

On the other hand, it has been rumored that Belichick will not return to the Patriots next season.

Belichick reportedly signed new a two-year contract during the 2023 offseason, and it is believed to pay him around $20 million a year.

But it’s not an impediment toward ousting Belichick.

Even if Belichick stays in New England, his reputation has taken a hit. Sure, he has six Super Bowl rings, but the Patriots are 3-11 this year and 28-36 since Tom Brady left.

There is a strong argument to be made that Reid is actually the better coach.

Before and after Brady, Belichick has won just one playoff game (20-13 vs. the Patriots when Vinny Testaverde quarterbacked Belichick’s 1994 Cleveland Browns team.)

In contrast — before he had a transcendent quarterback in Patrick Mahomes — Reid still won playoff games with quarterbacks Donovan McNabb, Jeff Garcia and Alex Smith.

Belichick still showed his defensive acumen against a more talented Chiefs squad. His defense forced two turnovers and could’ve had a third if not for a questionable holding penalty.

Mahomes described the challenge of facing a Belichick-coached defense.

“You think you know where to go with the ball before the snap, but he makes those adjustments,” he said. “They do a great job of making everything look very similar but doing little things here and there to change it up. That’s where they get you in trouble.”

Reid defended Belichick after the game, calling him the best in the best business and the toughest coach he’s ever faced.

“(There’s) nobody better,” he said. “I know how he great he is.”

Shortly after his comments, Reid headed on a charter flight back to Kansas City with his team jockeying for the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs.

Meanwhile, Belichick’s Patriots have the conference’s worst record.