Houston Texans' loss of Zach Cunningham remains a huge gain for Tennessee Titans | Estes

For about two years now, I’ve suspected something from afar about the Houston Texans: If you were to trespass deep inside their headquarters, find some hidden room and peel back a curtain, you'd see their great and powerful Oz exposed as a die-hard Tennessee Titans fan.

Hey, it’s as good an explanation as any for what they’ve let happen in Houston. A thorough dismantling of the Texans has allowed the Titans to take charge of the AFC South. No disrespect to the Indianapolis Colts, but the Texans are still that thorn, too. Even in a badly weakened form, the Texans have the Titans’ number.

They either scare the Titans to death – y’all see Danny Amendola just retired? – or deal them a stunning defeat like last season in Nashville. It’s never, ever easy against Houston.

Oz keeps working on that, though.

In fact, never was I more confident in my theory than in early December of last season. Not long after the Texans beat the Titans, they dropped Zach Cunningham.

I thought, “Dang, what am I missing?” Here was this highly productive inside linebacker who’d always flashed when I saw him play. He was only 27. He’d led the NFL with 106 solo tackles the previous season and described himself as “Instinctual, quick and physical for sure, being able to get to the ball.”

Yes. All that.

In other words, invitations don’t come more engraved than the one the Texans sent the Titans by cutting Cunningham.

He’d played a lot as a rookie on Mike Vrabel’s Houston defense in 2017.

He went to Vanderbilt.

The Titans also needed help at his position at the time.

General manager Jon Robinson didn't miss the waist-high fastball and grabbed a player off waivers who was clearly capable of improving the Titans instantly.

“For sure, I definitely felt like I was blessed with the situation the way it turned out,” Cunningham said.

His exit from Houston was accompanied by grumbles from ex-coach David Culley (who had about a month left before his own firing) about his behavior off the field. That couldn’t be ignored. But it could be overlooked.

And I wasn’t missing anything, for the record. Not on the field. Cunningham started immediately for the Titans and totaled 10 tackles in the regular-season finale (in Houston) and 10 more in the playoff loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

While letting Rashaan Evans (Falcons) and Jayon Brown (Raiders) walk in the offseason, the Titans worked to keep Cunningham – who made awfully good money for an inside linebacker – in the fold with a restructured deal.

“He came in and was great for us,” said Robinson. “We're excited that Zach’s back.”

In an offseason dominated by A.J. Brown’s trade and the lingering bitterness of the Bengals loss, retaining Cunningham was a low-key important move by the Titans.

The returning tandem of Cunningham and David Long Jr. looks to be a clear upgrade, leaving the middle as stout as any area of the Titans’ defense. That’s saying something this preseason. The defense looks set to carry the team in 2022, and the central member of that defense is Cunningham.

In early training camp practices, he has barely left the field. He is showing true every-down capability and complementing one of the defense’s emerging stars in Long Jr.

“We got along since he got here last year and got on the field,” Long Jr., said of Cunningham. “It was cool. We played off each other. We had the same kind of style as far as aggressive, attacking. It just fit.”

Cunningham doesn't offer much in interviews, but in a short window this week he said the following phrase twice: "Definitely happy."

That seems to be the case; for him and the Titans.

He is an ideal fit, and as such, he’ll likely want to stick around. He's a player around which the Titans' defense can build.

Thanks, Texans.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Houston Texans' loss Zach Cunningham a huge gain for Tennessee Titans