Is League's player skill cap increasing?

TL;DR : I was Gold last season but now I'm struggling against Bronze 1 - Silver 4's , what happened?

Hi. I'm not a good player. I've gotten into a lot of trouble here. But I'm wondering, I was able to obtain Gold 3 for a fraction of a moment last season. Then I ended the season in Gold V. But now, in this season I can't even beat players in Bronze I - Silver 4. I don't understand. If I sucked this much all along I wish I never got to Gold last season. But I noticed alot of people who were Gold last season got placed into low tier Silver this season. Since League of Legends is getting more popular, that obviously means more players. More players equal more Gold - Diamond level skilled players. So does that mean the average player skill is raising and people who were only barely worthy of Gold last season are now Silver V? Or maybe I only got Gold last season on luck... But Gold 3 on luck?.. I just don't get it. If I was Gold last season why are there people in low tier Silver who are just flat out more skilled than me? I'm talking 14/2 to 1/7 humiliation skill gap.