Waller, Muse, Pitts and Gesicki get OhioTate to 5 of 6

The count was already at 1 when the tweets started, and then the early window started paying out fast.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

Darren Waller! That’s 2 Tight End Touchdowns 🎃 4 to go

That was number 2, and it is about the only thing that went right for Carolina all day. Bryce Young hit Waller from 50 yards out for the Panthers' first points, and then Tampa blocked the extra point and Zyon McCollum took it the length of the field for a defensive 2-pointer. Waller's touchdown was good for the tracker and nothing else. Didn't matter. The count only cares that a tight end crossed the goal line.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

Nick Muse! That’s 3 Tight End Touchdowns 🎃 3 to go!

Three minutes after Waller, Nick Muse made it 3. Nobody builds a Sunday around Nick Muse, and that's the beauty of a running tight end count. The depth chart guy counts exactly as much as the star. Atlanta was down 14-3 to San Francisco when he scored, and the Falcons tight ends weren't done.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

Kyle Pitts! That’s 4 Tight End Touchdowns 🎃 2 more!

Pitts's 5-yard catch from Michael Penix put the Falcons up 19-14 in the 3rd quarter. It also came with a scare: Pitts and 49ers safety Malik Mustapha ran into a woman holding a parabolic mic by the end zone, and Pitts and Drake London checked on her before anyone celebrated. She appeared to be unhurt. So that's 2 Atlanta tight ends scoring in the same game, which is the kind of thing that turns a long-shot count into a real sweat.

Ohio’s Tate

@OhioTate

Mike Gesicki! That’s 5 Tight End Touchdowns 🎃 1 more!!!!

Gesicki's touchdown went up the same minute as Pitts's. That's 2 scores in about 60 seconds of tweeting, and the count jumped from 3 to 5 while the 3rd quarters were still running. The Bengals were getting shut out 13-0 by Baltimore when he caught it, which, again, is not the tracker's problem. Four exclamation points on "1 more" tells you where the Cave's heart rate was.

That leaves 1. The 4th quarters of the early games are still to play and the late window hasn't started yet, so plenty of tight ends still have a shot at it. Somebody on the 4:05 slate is about to become the most important player in the Gambling Cave without having any idea.