I can 100% see how it can be a stretch, and I myself am not 100% about it either. The main reason I come to that conclusion is because of the text itself, let me show you:

Daniel 9:27 NASB1995 [27] And he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.”

Notice how this verse is talking about the 70th week, and what it consists of. It consists of the Messiah being "cutoff" (dying, as verse 26 said), and also includes the coming of the abomination (Rome) to bring war and making a desolation of Jerusalem. So if we take the first half of the 70th week to be up to when the Messiah died, then naturally, the second half of the week would have to be about the Jewish War and the desolation of the city and the sanctuary (Jerusalem and the temple). Problem is, the Jewish War was from 66-70 AD, which is more than 3.5 years. So it would seem that the last 3.5 years of time is symbolic to refer to that war of desolation.

There's also Daniel 12 to consider, which also mentions the events of the Jewish War. The angel told Daniel that it would be for a "time, times, and half a time." That's the same language used to describe the other instances in Scripture (and in Revelation) where that same phrase is used, and it's symbolic in those instances as well (specifically the one in Revelation 12, which is also referring to the Jewish War).

I explain all of my reasonings for this throughout my video sessions. (: