a phrase used to describe a situation in which a party is in the midst of activity, with much work remaining before an outcome can be determined, whether favorable or not; derives from the dynamics of American football, whose field measures 100 yards between the two end zones which teams attack or defend, respectively; as the yards are marked in descending 10-yard increments from either side of the central 50-yard line, to be within the 40-yard lines indicates that a team has battled its way to a middle position on the field (comprising 20 of the total 100 yards), with significant distance yet to cover in order to score; can be used to remind one’s colleagues that while favorable progress has been made, they must remain focused in order to complete the task at hand