Steve Slaton looks more and more for real. Mario Williams is entirely legit. And Monday Night Football is quite all right with the Houston Texans.

The Texans treated their largest-ever home crowd of 70,809 and a ESPN national viewing audience to a taste of their ups and downs but they comfortably stayed ahead of Jacksonville most of the night, defeating the Jaguars 30-17 with their attractive “Battle Red” jerseys.

Houston usually has prospered on Battle Red games (6-2) but never has Houston enjoyed owning an up-and-coming rookie talent with the acceleration of Slaton. The West Virginia rookie tailback carried 21 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

Not all of those 70,000-plus fans were delighted by the Texans, who delivered less than an artistic success behind backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels. Houston tried and succeeded at getting through this game without the services of injured starter Matt Schaub. The Texans QB was activated and dressed out for the game but remained on the sideline due to his sore knee.

This night’s turning point may have occurred at half when the precocious rookie Slaton grabbed his head coach by the shirt in the locker room.

“I wanted to run the ball,” Slaton explained his behavior. “On this stage, I didn’t want to leave any regrets. If he needed someone to count on, it was me.”

Kubiak remembered the moment too.

“He came up, grabbed me by the shirt and said, ‘hey, I’m OK’,” the Texans coach recalled. “To watch him get stronger late in the game was very impressive.”

Slaton carried only nine times for 50 yards in the opening half which amounted to fewer yards than favorite Texans target Andre Johnson. The Texans marquee receiver ended the night with seven receptions for 75 yards after catching six passes for 67 yards in the first two quarters.

With Mario and his defensive mates sacking Jacksonville passer David Garrard and keeping the visitors out of the end zone for three quarters, Texans hurler Rosenfels did not have to constantly dial Andre’s number. He could give Jacksonville a full dose of Slaton and an occasional visit to steady tight end Owen Daniels.

Texans fans showered their heroes with boos late in the third quarter after a drive stalled on Jacksonville’s 2 and Kris Brown tacked on a 20-yard field goal. But Slaton smashed home two fourth-quarter touchdown runs of 7 and 40 yards while Williams recorded his season’s fourth multi-sack game and his career’s eighth one.

Turnovers and missed opportunities dominated a stuck-in-the-mud first half. The Texans easily could have owned a 21-0 advantage after one quarter and more than that by half. Yet Houston possessions fizzled with much frequency.

Rosenfels’ longest first-half completion turned into the half’s only touchdown as Andre Johnson worked a bit of his magic. Johnson streaked straight downfield, freezing his defender. The play fake took care of the rest and the 31-yard pass-and-run to cap the game’s first series. The Texans covered 69 yards in six plays after Andre Davis dashed 35 yards with a runback of the opening kickoff.

The Texans proceeded to blow opportunity after opportunity during the rest of the half. Jacksonville corner Rashean Mathis picked off Rosenfels’ toss for Andre on the next series near midfield. When Houston corner Jacques Reeves intercepted a Jaguars’ pass on the next play, the Texans regained ideal field position, especially when a 14-yard underneath route to Owen Daniels provided Houston with a new set of downs at Jacksonville’s 20. Four snaps later, the sputtering hosts settled for a 38-yard Kris Brown field goal from the right hash mark.

A Nick Ferguson fumble recovery set up the Texans for yet another great chance on Houston’s fourth and final first-quarter possession. A messed-up Wildcat play and an offensive pass interference eventually caused Houston to retreat to its own 42 before Matt Turk punted the ball to the Jaguars’ 1.