PITTSBURGH -- What happened at the 1-yard line last season in San Diego tells you everything about coach Mike Tomlin's steely nerve.

With five seconds left and the Steelers down 3, Tomlin's staff opted for a Le'Veon Bell Wildcat play for the win. Bell's outstretched arm to gain that one beautiful yard in Week 5 changed the complexion of the Steelers' 2015 season. That team had an impressive resolve, winning 10 games despite the fact that Ben Roethlisberger missed a quarter of the season and Bell missed most of it.

That team also went 8-of-11 on two-point conversions. Tomlin might as well have been pushing the Staples "easy" button, because nearly everything he did worked organically.

The batteries have fallen out this year, as Tomlin's gambles aren't paying off.

From injuries to players blowing assignments, the Steelers' problems stretch far beyond coaching.

But even though Tomlin's bold decision-making is admired in a big-picture view, the negative results of those decisions get magnified over a four-game skid.

Two weeks ago in Baltimore, Tomlin's decision to employ a conservative offensive game plan with Roethlisberger coming off his knee injury made sense. However, it hampered the offense against one of the league's best rushing defenses. The Steelers managed just one first down on their first three drives as they ran Bell into a purple wall five times, including once on a third-and-4. The offense didn't get on track until it was too late.

Establishing the run is a good thing, but the conservative plan ran in contrast to the Steelers' vertical-threat identity. It was as if Big Ben was running the Landry Jones game plan.

In Sunday's crushing loss to the Cowboys, the Steelers' failed two-point conversion attempts on their first three touchdowns gave Dallas the option to kick a field goal to win it in the final few minutes if it needed to. Those gaping holes in the run defense made that decision moot, but the Steelers were chasing lost points all game. The Steelers failed on four conversion attempts overall, and their timing was off on all of them.

Past results said the Steelers' always-attacking offense would convert those. But that's the way this season has gone for Tomlin. Even an effective blitz package against Dallas backfired on Dak Prescott's 50-yard touchdown strike to Dez Bryant, leaving rookie Artie Burns on an island with the beastly receiver.

Tomlin is one of the league's most accomplished coaches, with two Super Bowl appearances and no losing seasons since 2007. Players have said they believe they have the right coach to make things right.

But Tomlin isn't relying on his past.

"[Coaching] is something you earn daily," Tomlin said. "You walk in the stadiums, your reputation or résumé doesn't win football games. What you do in the stadium does."

Despite Roethlisberger's 19-2 record as a starter against Cleveland, the Steelers have lost three games in FirstEnergy Stadium since 2009. Tomlin might be faced with another tough call or two on the road, where the team is 1-3.

Perhaps one of those red buttons says "turning point" on it.