I can see your point and also see the improvement, although I'm not so sure that I wouldn't trade spots with either the Cowboys or Bengals.
The Cowboys have better talent across the board, but the gap is closing. Witten, Fasano, Julius Jones, Terry Glenn, & Romo are a pretty good core group of skill players. (Notice I leave TO out, because if they don't cut his butt during the off-season, he will only continue to tear that team apart). The weakness is in the offensive line. They need FA and draft help there in the worst way. I'd trade for their defense in a heartbeat. The only real weakness there is the Free Safety & the fact that Roy Williams can't cover deep. He isn't the worst strong safety in the league, but he certainly isn't the best. The deep middle ball has killed the Cowboys in all of their losses. Add a FS that has exceptional cover skills and this is a D that is among the tops in the league.
As to the Bengals. Marvin Lewis has built them from the depths of awfulness that we can only have nightmares about. Their offensive cast is pretty close to the best in the league. Chad Johnson, Carson Palmer, TJ Who'syourmama, Rudi Johnson, & Henry are dang good. The Bengal O-line has had significant injuries almost from the beginning. Add to that, Carson's tentativeness after the Pittsburgh cheap shot from the playoffs and they've faltered some this year compared to last, but with their O-line health and Palmer firing, I'd trade our O for theirs. The receivers are about a wash, but everywhere else, I think they're better. The Benglas Defense is mediocre, except that they are ball hawks and that makes up for a lot of sins. Their off the field issues and suspensions have hurt them, but I think their talent level is a smidge better than ours right now.
In a perfect world, I'd take the Cowboys D and the Bengals O and ride it to a Texans Superbowl win.
Don't get me wrong, I like where we're going, but its a bit premature to put us above two teams with playoff caliber talent, even if their play doesn't match the talent right now.
Go Texans