Does rating really reflect skill level at low brackets?

I've just hit 1200 for the first time in 1v1(1600 in 3v3/4v4 but I dont count that since one good/bad player on either team usually makes or breaks the game). While I'm pretty damn excited about it because at one point I was as low as 850, I've noticed a huge skill gap in the players that I encountered. Some players are just super optimal, knowing when to harass with scouts and then leading to a full-on knight rush and ending the game at castle age, while other players place 15 villagers on berries and don't bother hunting the deer group that's next to the berries.

In fact, the last game before I reached 1200 was on a megarandom with 20 relics in the center. The opposing player didn't go for a SINGLE relic so I ended up getting ALL of them(11k gold gained from relic by the end of game). He also opted to do pure skirmisher macro even though I was vietnamese with full upgrades and imperial skirms. I don't know much about the civs yet, but I'm pretty sure you don't just go full on skirms against vietnamese(he was saracen). So why do I sense such a big disparity in skill level even though all those games were 1150~ rating?

Does this game have a lot of smurfs?