The formula for postseason dominance by Eagles' D

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The first half is for figuring a team out. The second half is for battering them into submission.

That's been the formula down the stretch for the Eagles' defense, which hasn't allowed a second-half point in its two playoff wins and has given up only 15 second-half points in its last five games.

"I really think it's a testament to our entire team of just staying on our pace and our tempo, controlling the line of scrimmage, running the ball on offense, just kind of wearing teams down so in the second half we've kind of got them right where we want them," defensive tackle Beau Allen said.

"It's conditioning. It's will. Call it whatever you want. We just kind of turn it on as much as we can later in games. That's when games are won or lost."

This wasn't the case early in the season. The Eagles' first nine games, they gave up 12.6 second-half points per game.

But since the first Dallas game, that figure has been 5.7. 

The Eagles are only the ninth team in NFL history to hold its first two postseason opponents without a second-half point.

In the Atlanta game, the Falcons' scored their only touchdown on an 18-yard drive midway through the second quarter, then didn't score on their last five drives. Last week in the NFC Championship Game, the Vikings took a 7-0 lead on their first possession, then failed to score on their last eight.

"We do a really good job of adjusting," Malcolm Jenkins said. "I think every team is going to come out and they'll have their scripted 15 plays, stuff they see on film, and even last week, we were a little unsettled (against the Vikings), just uncharacteristic, missed a couple tackles, got back to the sideline, calmed it down.

"Jim (Schwartz) does a good job of calming us down and gets us lined up and just able to play fast and when we do get our bearings we start getting negative plays on first down and second down, put you in third and longer, and all of a sudden we become that dominant defense we know we can be snap in and snap out. 

"So it's really just about getting that traction and once we get it and make those adjustments, guys start making plays."

The last team that really hurt the Eagles after halftime was the Rams back on Dec. 10, and that was kind of extenuating circumstances. But even in that game, after the Rams drove 75 yards for a TD to take the lead after Carson Wentz was lost for the season, the defense slammed the door the rest of the game, allowing just six yards on the Rams' last three drives and forcing two turnovers.

You really have to go back to the Seattle game on Dec. 3 to find the last time the Eagles' defense was really outplayed in a second half. 

"It's guys kind of understanding how a team is trying to attack us and what we need to do to stop them," McLeod said. "It's really just staying in front of the game. 

"We've got a lot of really good coaches who work hard, and as players, we're able to apply what they're saying and go out and do it on the field. 

"We get stronger as the game goes on. We come out after halftime and us defensively, we feel like we're one of the strongest teams, whether it's us getting a sack, getting a turnover, really feel like we're creating momentum that we can carry through the rest of the game."

The Eagles have only allowed two second-half touchdowns in their last five games, and one of them was against the Eagles' backups in that meaningless Dallas game.

Overall, the Eagles go into the Super Bowl having allowed 17.3 points per game, 14.5 per game since Week 8 and just 8.3 over the last four weeks.

The Eagles face the ultimate challenge in Tom Brady a week from Sunday, but this defense goes to Minneapolis on quite a run. 

"Corrections are going to be huge this week," McLeod said. "Longer halftime, going to be a lot of time to make those adjustments and corrections. It's going to come down to those things. 

"When you get to the Super Bowl, you have two great teams going at it. Two teams that are here for a reason. Those adjustments and corrections are going to be a difference maker."

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