Has your computer ever gotten so slow and full of programs that the best thing to do is to shut it down and start over? Has your Direct TV reception ever got scrambled and the only way to fix the problem is to unplug it at the wall and reload fresh?

Know the feeling on a restart?

Everything is quicker and better … and the weight that was inhibiting top performance from your computer or television is now lifted and the speed and clear picture is back.

Know that feeling?

That is what the New Orleans Saints feel like today.

The have hit reset, they can start anew, and all the pressure of the drive for a perfect season and the heavy lifting of bloated point spreads are eliminated with last week’s loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

That is not to say the Saints don’t still have something to play for. They want that home field advantage in the National Football Conference playoffs, and can wrap it up with a win this Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers … the same Tampa Bay squad this Saints team wasted in Florida last month by a 38-7 score.

Now, given the Buccaneers won last week, against the Seahawks on the road, and they now travel to meet a New Orleans team that lost last week, their first defeat of the season, the wagering public thinks the Buccaneers increase their chances of at least staying close to the Saints this week. The opening spread of two touchdowns has not moved … but, know this, if this game would have been played one week ago, before the Saints lost to the Dallas Cowboys and the Bucs upset the Seahawks, the spread on this game would have favored New Orleans by 17 points. In addition, I suspect that the public would have backed the homestanding Saints like the Buccaneers didn’t have a prayer.

Now, after last week’s results, the spread on this game is reduced three points and the wagering public is giving Tampa Bay a better chance to succeed than they deserve. Of course, wouldn’t you know the public is turning on the Saints when they are in a likely spot to excel in a manner that mirrors their first six games … which were all convincing wins and point spread covers.

If you don’t think the Saints are in the best position to succeed since a Week Six matchup against the New York Giants you are not alone. But, the Saints got the break with last week’s loss that the New England Patriots never were afforded when they compiled their perfect regular season two years ago. In 2007, the Patriots opened the season with win after win, but once they began losing to the spread they never got “cleaned out” with a straight-up loss. They continued to lose against the spread, six of the last eight weeks of the regular season, and in all three postseason results.

But, good for the Saints, they suffered their first straight up loss and sixth point spread setback in the past eight weeks, in time to regroup and come back firing on all cylinders.

This week, against a suspect Tampa Bay defense that is overconfident with no good reason, Drew Brees is going to light it up and the Saints are going to play just as well as your computer or television performs after a reboot.

The Saints rebooted … and the Buccaneers off a road win and now headed to the Superdome.

Hummmm … what could go wrong for the young Bucs this week?

Everything.

Qoxhi Picks: New Orleans Saints (-14) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers