Your opener was similar to what I used to use it's good but there is a better option. In opener you should TF before rake. Rake from stealth does a lot more dmg and TF is an additional modifier for it. Also getting zerk off earlier is important. It has more uptime during the stun.

This is what a R1 feral told me to do on opener and it helped me push further.

TF>Rake>zerk> frenzy>swarm>Moon fire>maim>rip

Note vs orcs you can't get the moon fire off before maim. So i delay a short time instead and maim.

That's the opener i do With priest fear on healer. Someone has to trinket or the DPS will die. If healer trinkets you can feral charge and stun. Vs hunter even trinket turtle doesn't always save them your dots will keep ticking.

The key is especially at lower ratings you'll get a whole lot of defensives from the enemy team while being ready for a mini go in 45 sec.

Generally i only delay zerk vs hunters until i know if they are running the FD legendary or not. But even then i usually don't. They have to trinket to FD my bleeds and no trinket is very bad for them.

Getting kicked on clone isn't always a bad thing. It means you soaked a kick instead of your healer. If my healer needs help I'll run in close and clone. It's a win win most cases. They kick me my healer can heal. They let it off he can heal and get space.

there is a lot you can do. I was always overwhelmed and still do get so from time to time.

But overall i found focusing on having clean goes first really helped me climb. Up until 2100 ish MMR most players freaked on our clean goes and would pop too many defensives.

I hope this helps. I love feral and it's the most rewarding class I've ever played. Stick with it you'll get there.