So I'm gonna admit to doing something a bit shitty but hopefully you can learn something from it. This last season I actually wanted to test this for myself since I have a few buddies that claim silver is "unwinnable", "elo hell" and "filled with smurfs". So I did what any masochist would do and picked up a smurf account with the Humble discount to practice my DPS. Me and a buddy basically just afk'd until level 25 to place as low as possible, went 0-10 in placements, and placed just above 1000 SR. I then purely solo q'd, no stacking or LFG. I didn't join voice chat, and I never swapped off DPS. I did not lose a game until 1900 SR, and I didn't lose another until 2200ish. My win rate on the account is well over 90%.

Here's the thing: I'm not some top 500 god, I'm consistently a low diamond D.va bot who falls into plat on a bad day. I'm not very good at this game at all, and I never once struggled in silver. If you're having issues winning games down there, I promise you you will do yourself more good by focusing on improving your own play and mentality than you ever will worrying about your teammates. I didn't see any other obvious smurfs, I didn't see any throwers. Just lots of people who blaim their team because it's easier than realizing you need to improve.