Are 2 Super Bowl-winning coaches nearing the end of their run?

When Mike Tomlin's Pittsburgh Steelers and Mike McCarthy's Green Bay Packers met in Super Bowl XLV at the end of the 2010 season, it was assumed both would reach that stage again, perhaps even playing in a rematch.

Since the Packers' 31-25 Super Bowl win, however, both teams have failed to reach the title game. Many factors have played against them in the following five seasons, but this year, both the Steelers and Packers sit at 4-5 and in danger of missing out on the playoffs altogether.

As a result, cries for both coaches to lose their jobs have grown in increasing volume. The Pack have yet to miss the playoffs since 2008 and the Steelers have been postseason participants the last two years, but it's no longer acceptable in Green Bay and in Pittsburgh for their teams to just make the playoffs.

McCarthy and Tomlin have found themselves on the coaching hot seat. Just how did it come to this?

Mike McCarthy

While the Packers have been slowly growing an offensive line capable of protecting franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers, all other facets of the team have taken a hit in recent seasons.

McCarthy has taken over the play-calling duties, but the Pack remain in the middle of the pack in total offense. Unreliable running backs have rendered the offense one-dimensional and with a dearth of depth at the talent positions and injuries sapping the playmaking abilities of receivers Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb, Rodgers just doesn't have the weapons he used to.

Green Bay finally attempted to address the tight end position - a necessary safety valve for Rodgers - in the offseason, but free-agent acquisition Jared Cook has been a non-factor.

While all that has happened to the offense, the defense has grown ineffective in the same amount of time. Defensive tackle B.J. Raji abruptly retired before the season started, but Mike Daniels has managed to anchor the defensive line. In the time he has played, star linebacker Clay Matthews has had minimal impact in five games, and 36-year-old counterpart Julius Peppers has just eight tackles in nine games.

In the secondary, Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins have inherited the corner slots previously held by the steady hands of Tramon Williams and Sam Shields.

But the real surprise is that Dom Capers continues to run the defense. The subject of fans' ire for years, Capers has manned the defensive controls since 2009. Like McCarthy, it appears he will be going down with the ship. At this point, Capers will only be replaced when the entire coaching staff is overhauled.

And that leads us to general manager Ted Thompson. The longtime team executive has refrained from adding used parts or stop gaps for years and that philosophy may have finally caught up to both him and the Packers. Homegrown talent has been good to him and taken the Pack so far, but his inability to read team needs when the club was just mere steps away from the ultimate goal has led them to this point.

If the end is near for McCarthy and Capers, Thompson deserves his share of the blame.

Mike Tomlin

In Pittsburgh, Tomlin's tried-and-true mantras are also netting little returns. He continues to push the Steelers to attempt two-point conversions after touchdowns and they failed at all four attempts on Sunday. Those four extra points the Steelers left on the table certainly contributed to the narrow loss to the Dallas Cowboys, but the one loss isn't the only source of the team's woes.

Pittsburgh owns perhaps the best collection of offensive talent in the league, and therefore it is almost criminal that they have just four wins through nine games.

Franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was surprisingly blunt when he summed the Steelers' problems up to undisciplined play and unaccountability.

"Is it players? Is it coaches? I don't know," Big Ben said.

For all the success the duo of Tomlin and Roethlisberger has found together, it rung loudly across Pennsylvania that the signal-caller would even mention coaching as a reason for the team's problems.

The offense has had its troubles, and while the team remains aggressive on that side of the ball, it is increasingly passive on defense. Even stalwart linebacker James Harrison believes so, labeling the team's latest effort as "totally shitty." Pittsburgh's defense relinquishes 380 yards of offense a game, ranking them as the eighth-worst unit in the league in that category. They're second last in interceptions, with just four.

Like the Pack, the Steelers have relied on the draft to provide an infusion of talent, and while they have found a few difference-making talents, like linebacker Ryan Shazier, no gems have been found in the secondary. It has forced Pittsburgh to rely on the likes of William Gay and Mike Mitchell in pass coverage, to little returns.

The Steelers are in trouble of ceding the AFC North to one of their hated rivals, a development that could be a final blow to the current leadership structure.

Both marquee franchises have been built on trust and loyalty, as neither have seen much turnover over their decades of success, but as the results are swinging in the other direction, the Steelers and Packers may be forced to chose a new route on their path back to the top.