The football metaphor for ‘war mode’ really might be switching to playing defense. 4th and ten was last quarter. Right now, we don’t have possession and we’re trying to minimize the risk of conceding points.

And maybe that means that now is the time for your star playmaking quarterback and receivers to be on the bench planning the play for when the pendulum swings back, and some different players should be center stage.

Or maybe metaphors are just metaphors.