From the AP: "Analysts said the Republicans were harmed by Rachel Mitchell..." Apparently this "career prosecutor" whom you said/implied knew what she was doing didn't.
The crux of the matter and by far the most important testimony of the day was Ford's "100% certainty" that she ID'd Kavanaugh correctly. It was important to establish that many men, later exonerated, were convicted of sexual assault because the women in those cases were also "100% certain" that they had the right man, when in fact they did not.
She could have at least made this very powerful point, which was crucial. But for some reason, she didn't. Maybe "experts" aren't always correct in their actions or assessments.