back up and punt

informal To consider, devise, or undertake a drastically different course of action in an attempt to resolve an undesirable or untenable situation. In American football, a team on offense will commonly punt the ball on their fourth and final down, after other offensive plays have not been successful. I know your strategy didn't go according to plan, but don't despair—back up and punt. Come up with something better. Changing our business model so drastically wasn't something we would have considered a year ago, but this global disaster forced us to back up and punt if we wanted to have any hope of keeping our company open. The CEO doesn't want to hear it, but we have to back up and punt before this failed launch bankrupts us.