Poised For . . . What? Bengals Show Flashes of Maturity Vs Denver

Ever since Carson Palmer’s knee was blown in the 2005 playoffs loss to the Steelers, the Cincinnati Bengals have been missing one key ingredient to a formula for success: poise.   They can draft all the top 10 linebackers and tackles they want and recast the playbook over and over, but until someone at Paul Brown Stadium figures out how to get these guys to stand tall in the face of adversity, the Bengals aren’t going back to the playoffs.   So did they find any in the offseason this year? Is there any substance to all Marvin Lewis’ talk about this team having a whole new attitude? Sunday’s loss to the Denver Broncos offers some clues.   First of all, throw out the Brandon Stokley touchdown. It was a freak occurrence—the kind of thing that makes highlight reels because it’s so rare.   Now, let’s look at the rest of the game. With less than seven minutes in the game, Palmer brought the Bengals to the line on their own...