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They did fail, but so did Mueller by leaving so many of his conclusions implied but not stated. He has scrupulously refused to explicitly accuse Trump of anything at all, even as Trump and Barr misrepresent his work as an exoneration. /1
Mueller could say "despite the Trump campaign's destruction of evidence, our investigation established the Trump campaign repeatedly communicated with the Russian government and welcomed their assistance, including through criminal means, while denying to the public any link." /2 
Mueller could say, "the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government in the non-legal sense that they secretly cooperated, but the evidence available to us--that is, the evidence which wasn't destroyed--did not establish a criminal conspiracy beyond a reasonable doubt." /3
Mueller could say, "President Trump hampered our investigation by negotiating in bad faith for an interview that he ultimately refused to provide, and obstructed justice by repeatedly attempting to shut down or to limit our investigation." /4
Mueller could say, "President Trump's conduct towards several witnesses met all three elements of obstruction of justice: an obstructive act, a nexus between the act and an official proceeding, and corrupt intent. But for his immunity as President, we would have indicted him." /5
Mueller could say, "in our judgment, President Trump's motives for obstructing the investigation were to advance his own personal and financial interests, which is a core example of corruptly motivated conduct." /6
Mueller could say, "Although we could not indict President Trump, we could concluded that obstruction of justice laws apply to him all the same, and it is within Congress's powers to redress any violation of them." /7
But Mueller didn't say any of that, based upon an exceedingly strict interpretation of DOJ policy that precludes him from making any determination -- something that AG Barr immediately rolled right over, making the determination for him. So why does Mueller still hold to it? /8
Mueller is, as @popehat said, a "man out of time." He's a man out of context, too: Mueller is strictly adhering to an interpretation of DOJ policy that the Attorney General immediately rejected to misrepresent Mueller's results. So why keep doing it? /end
Fresh out of the oven: Attorney General Barr explicitly saying Mueller could've reached a decision on whether it was criminal conduct. There's no good reason for Mueller to maintain that DOJ policy requires he speak in riddles.
Seriously. I don't doubt Mueller's conviction that DOJ policy means he can't say the President committed a crime, but he needs to recognize that nobody else is playing by those rules. The AG isn't playing by any rules. Mueller should say what he means.
