Bucs loss spoils linebacker’s second pick-6 The Tampa Tribune, published 6 October 2014 For the second time in three games, Danny Lansanah hasn’t been able to fully cherish a linebacker’s dream. Lansanah, who began the season as a backup to Jonathan Casillas on the strong side, matched his rare accomplishment at Atlanta Sept. 18 by returning an interception for a touchdown. This time, Lansanah victimized Pro Bowl quarterback Drew Brees instead of Falcons backup T.J. Yates, who was working in mop-up duty. Lansanah’s score early in the third quarter Sunday at the Superdome put the Bucs ahead 24-13 and came only 39 seconds after teammate Bobby Rainey scored on a 9-yard run. “Our front line put the pressure on Brees as he was throwing, and I caught a tipped ball and looked toward the end zone,” said Lansanah, who dashed 33 yards before executing a deft somersault as he crossed the goal line. “It’s too bad I can’t really celebrate like I want because we didn’t come away with the win.” After the play, Lansanah was hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for using the ball as a prop during his celebration. It wasn’t the first flag of the day generated by the Bucs — and it certainly wasn’t the last. Despite registering three interceptions against Brees, the Bucs fell to the NFC South basement at 1-4 heading into a home matchup vs. Baltimore. “Coach (Lovie) Smith puts up statistics about the importance of takeaways,” Lansanah said. “When you get three of them, you win like 80-something percent of the time, but it didn’t work out for us today. Brees is an elite quarterback and he had that offense rolling. We played our butts off in a tough place to win, but we’ve got to find a way to come out of here with a victory.” At the Georgia Dome, Lansanah’s late 27-yard interception return for a score helped the Bucs narrowly avoid the most lopsided loss in franchise history. On Sunday, his pick and score helped Tampa Bay build a pair of 11-point leads before Brees found a way to frustrate the Bucs again. “Even in the overtime, I felt we had a great chance to win the game,” Lansanah said. “All we had to do was stop them on third down and get them off the field. You’ve got to tip your hat to those guys — that’s an elite offense. We had them in some third-and-longs and they converted. We came up a little short.” Lansanah had the only Tampa Bay interception through the first four weeks and he still owns the team lead, although cornerbacks Johnthan Banks and Alterraun Verner also picked off Brees in Sunday’s shootout. Lansanah’s theft came on third down from the New Orleans 30 as Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and end Jacquies Smith pressured Brees into throwing a floater toward the left flat. “You know how much of an emphasis we put on (turnovers),” Smith said. “The takeaways haven’t come for whatever reason. Today, of course, each one of them was big, and we had opportunities for at least two or three more that we weren’t able to convert on. Danny’s touchdown is even better. If we keep playing the ball like that, eventually it will go our way.”