The Cincinnati Bengals have one of the league’s best quarterbacks in Joe Burrow. Now, can they give him a defense that consistently gets stops? The Athletic’s Mike Sando published his annual QB tiers Monday. The survey grants anonymity to NFL executives and coaches for candor. The first tier features the top QBs, while the fifth tier has the worst. “A Tier 1 quarterback can carry his team each week. The team wins because of him. He expertly handles pure-passing situations. He has no real holes in his game,” wrote Sando. Burrow and Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes were the only passers who were unanimous Tier 1 choices. A head coach compared the Bengals star to a four-time Super Bowl champion. “He is the closest thing to [former San Francisco 49ers star] Joe Montana that I’ve seen,” the coach said, via Sando. “That is about as big a compliment I can give you as a quarterback.” Montana, however, had an elite defense. According to Sando, the 49ers allowed the league’s fewest points during the 1980s. B
