PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers call it “December football,” a time when the missteps of the previous three months can either be washed away or amplified.

Long one of the NFL’s best when the calendar flips to Dec. 1, the Steelers (7-5) find themselves still searching for an identity. Are they the team that turned the team record book into confetti while crushing Indianapolis and Baltimore around Halloween or the hot mess that was basically blown out by underachieving New Orleans last Sunday?

The next four Sundays will provide the answer starting at first-place Cincinnati this weekend.

“We’ve got to take care of business,” running back Le’Veon Bell said. “We can’t look forward to four or five weeks ahead.”

Probably not a good idea. Pittsburgh can’t seem to figure out who or what it is from play to play let alone week to week. And whatever swagger the Steelers have boasted after Thanksgiving is shrinking.

Pittsburgh is 20-13 in regular season games played after Dec. 1 under Mike Tomlin, but just 5-4 in the last two years. The fact the Steelers missed the postseason both times is not a coincidence. With a logjam of teams at 7-5, whatever wiggle room Pittsburgh had before last Sunday is long gone.

“We’re not worried about what our standings are,” defensive end Cameron Heyward said. “We’re just trying to win game after game.”

Or any game, for that matter. Four wins would likely secure a playoff spot and the AFC North title. One problem: Pittsburgh has won four straight just twice in the last five years, the last time in 2012. Going 3-1 or worse would make for a significantly tougher road.

Tomlin isn’t panicking, perhaps because it’s too early. Still, he chastised his team for its uneven play against the Saints despite having a week off and a handful of starters back in the lineup following injury.

“We didn’t complement ourselves well enough to secure victory,” Tomlin said. “There are many examples of it, in all three areas of the game.”

Not even quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was immune. Roethlisberger found himself thrust into the MVP conversation after throwing six touchdowns in consecutive games against the Colts and Ravens. He has just four touchdowns and five interceptions over the last three games and completed just 55 percent (32 of 58) of his passes, his second-worst mark of the season.