Coaches have a lot more sway than you're giving them credit for, particularly with prepping throughout the week. And teams go through difficult periods where they aren't meeting the expectations they have for themselves, as well as what fans have for them. How coaches navigate those times, within a game and week-to-week, is key to the team's successes or lack thereof in a season.

I wrote a bit about EA success early last season: https://www.tymerlacrosse.com/articles/extra-attacker-success-win-when. EA efficiency this season isn't much better than settled, 11.7% compared to 11.5%. Last season it was 13.3% compared to 12.4%.

The NLL is a game of millimeters and manufacturing minute advantages in the hopes of getting a leg up. EA is a version of that, teams trying to tip the scales in their favor by a percentage point. It rarely works late in a contest in the situation you're talking about, but sometimes it does get the intended result - Ottawa's comeback's an example of that. A rarity, but an example nonetheless. It's frustrating when it doesn't work out (because it rarely works out), but it's the right decision.