Ryan Moats or Steve Slaton: Who Should the Houston Texans Start?

"I told Steve in the locker room to get his chin up. This team needs him playing well and making plays, and I'm expecting him to come right back next week and help us."

That quote came from Gary Kubiak after Steve Slaton was benched in the first quarter following his seventh fumble of season, and it suggests that Kubiak may start Slaton again next week.

But is that wise?

Ryan Moats came in after Slaton's fumble and ran the Texans to victory after the team stumbled out of the gate.

Moats gave the team 151 yards of total offense and three touchdowns—by far the Texans' best game from a running back this season.

We've just passed the halfway point on the season, and the team's previous high for a running back was the 76 yards Slaton put up against Jacksonville. 

Now, I know that Moats' performance came against the worst run defense in the league, but let's take a look at some of his previous performances. 

The only other game this season in which Moats recorded a carry was in Week Four against Oakland. 

He came in for Slaton, after another Slaton fumble, and ran for 56 yards on 15 carries for a 3.7-yard average.

That's hardly a stellar performance, and Oakland's run defense is only slightly better than Buffalo's, but keep in mind that Slaton only ran for 61 yards on six more carries.

Last year, the only game in which Moats got significant playing time was the last game against Chicago, where he ran for 38 yards on 12 carries for a 3.8-yard average—again, not eye-popping numbers, but Chicago ended last season with the fifth-ranked run defense, and they were playing for their playoff lives.

In that same game, Slaton ran for 92 yards on 20 carries. 

On the surface, that looks far superior to Moats until you consider that 47 of those yards came on a single carry. Take that out, and he only averaged 2.4 yards per run. He also lost a fumble.

Before we continue, let's be realistic about what we have here.

Moats does not come close to Slaton as far as big play ability is concerned. Slaton is a threat to score any time he touches the ball.

But I would argue that Moats has better vision from run to run.

In no way do I believe that Moats is the long-term solution at running back for the Texans, and I still feel that Slaton has a better future in this league, but when talking about the immediate future, perhaps the team needs to give Moats a few more opportunities.

The real question when discussing the two is the following: Would you rather have a running back who will give you a consistent three to four yards a carry, or one who will get stopped at the line more often but can break one for 50 at any given moment?

Each person may answer that question differently based on his or her individual level of conservatism.

Some may argue that with the explosiveness of the passing game, the team only needs a threat of a running game, and one who can simply keep them honest with consistent positive yardage is enough to set up the play action and keep the entire offense humming.

Others may argue that an explosive back better keeps the defense honest even if he's not gaining a lot of yardage because the defense must always account for that threat.

Fumbles, however, may be the ultimate tiebreaker here.

Even worse than the fact that Slaton has fumbled nine times this year is the fact that he's done so in all but two games. 

That means that he's had a lot of time to work on it but still hasn't figured out a way to hold on to the ball. 

A glimpse at the schedule may also provide a hint as to who should get the immediate playing time.

The team heads off to Indianapolis next weekend to face off with an undefeated Peyton Manning. The one thing you cannot do against the Colts offense is give them additional opportunities, so it may be more critical to have a sure-handed back rather than an explosive back.

Besides, it's not like Moats is a liability for the offense. He's proven that he can find the end zone with four touchdowns in his last three games played. 

Slaton ultimately should get another opportunity, and he still has a very good chance to be the Texans' running back for years to come.

Right now, though, the Texans are in position to possibly make the playoffs for the first time in team history, and they can't afford to have Slaton fumble away that chance.