Moore’s four TD tosses keep Dolphins in playoff mix

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Matt Moore’s first game as Ryan Tannehill’s replacement was the best of his career.

The nine-year veteran stepped in Saturday night by throwing for four touchdowns in keeping alive the Miami Dolphins’ playoff hopes with a 3413 rout of the New York Jets.

In his first start since Jan. 1, 2012 — a Dolphins victory over the Jets, with current New York coach Todd Bowles serving as interim Miami coach — Moore picked apart the mistake-prone hosts.

He hit Dion Sims for a pair of 1-yard TDs and Kenny Stills for 52 and Jarvis Landry for 66 in Miami’s eighth win in its last night games. The Dolphins (95) clinched their first winning season since 2008, the last time they won the AFC East.

Should Moore (12 for 18 for 236 yards) continue such strong play, they certainly can be optimistic about playing in the postseason.

The Jets (4-10) have lost as many games as they won in 2015, Bowles’ first season in charge. They also lost second-year quarterback Bryce Petty on the first play of the fourth quarter after he was squashed by Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake and had the wind knocked out of him.

For good measure, the Dolphins got an 11-yard blocked punt return touchdown by Walt Aiken.

It took a replay challenge by Dolphins coach Adam Gase to get an incompletion overturned into Sims’ first 1-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter — Moore’s first TD throw since Week 8 of 2012, also against the Jets. Andrew Franks’ extra point kick hit the left upright, his first miss this season.

Wake’s first career interception on an awful throw by Petty thwarted another New York threat in the opening half. And the Dolphins stopped Bilal Powell on a fourth-and-1 run near midfield.

That set up Moore’s perfect pass to Stills behind rookie cornerback Justin Burris for a 13-7 lead.

Tampa Bay (8-5) at Dallas (11-2) 5:20 p.m., KSNV-3

This game was flexed to prime time, and with good reason. Yes, the Cowboys had their 11-game win streak snapped by the Giants, the only team to beat them in 2016, but they still have the NFC East and the overall top seed in the conference in sight.

The division belongs to Dallas if it wins and the Giants don’t, or it ties and the Giants lose. Home-field advantage comes if the Cowboys win and the Giants tie the Lions.

Tampa has won five straight; the previous time that happened, the Bucs won the NFL title in 2002. They have an NFL-high 10 interceptions in those five games. On offense, Jameis Winston to Mike Evans has been a top combination, and Doug Martin is averaging 102 yards from scrimmage in his past 13 road games.