EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Matt Moore exited the visitor's locker room at MetLife Stadium late Saturday night and gazed around until a reporter directed him across the hallway to the interview room, where the starting quarterback conducts a post-game press conference.

Moore's uncertainty following his first start in almost five years was understandable. But as sure as Moore knows now where the interview room is located, the Miami Dolphins understand they are one step closer to their own unfamiliar destination.

Moore returned to the starting lineup in impressive fashion Saturday night, when he threw a career-high four touchdown passes as the Dolphins ensured they'd keep pace in the AFC wild-card race with a 34-13 win over the New York Jets.

"I'm fired up, man, it's a great feeling," Moore said as he grinned and tapped the right side of the podium. "We're definitely going to enjoy it -- I'm going to enjoy it -- and get ready to get back to work."

Moore's big night capped off perhaps the most memorable week of his life. Last Sunday, Moore replaced the injured Ryan Tannehill -- who started the previous 77 games, the longest streak by a Miami quarterback since Dan Marino started 95 straight games from 1987 through 1993 -- and led the Dolphins on the game-winning drive in a 26-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals.

The next day, Moore's wife gave birth to the couple's third child, a boy.

"It's wild, but that's the way it goes," Moore said. "It was good."

The wild ride continued Saturday for Moore and the Dolphins (9-5), who have won eight of nine since a 1-4 start. Miami, which has not qualified for the playoffs since winning the AFC East in 2008, at least momentarily moved ahead of the Denver Broncos in the race for the final wild-card spot.

The Broncos, who host the New England Patriots on Sunday, have the strength of victory tiebreaker over the Dolphins, whose winning season is their first since 2008.

"My goal isn't to have a winning season," said Dolphins defensive end Cameron Wake, who had a strip sack and an interception in the first half before teaming up with defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to knock out Jets quarterback Bryce Petty with a lethal hit early in the fourth quarter. "I'd like to think that most guys aren't going to be satisfied with that, either. You want to accomplish all the goals that you set in the beginning of the season and those things haven't been accomplished yet.

"I'm not a guy with a lot of foresight. I look at the next nail and you hammer that one as hard as you can."

The Jets delivered the hits early on, when Petty and Robby Anderson hooked up on a 40-yard touchdown pass to cap the game's first possession. But Wake's strip sack and Suh's recovery of Petty's fumble ended a Jets drive in the red zone later in the first quarter and jump-started the Dolphins, who took a 13-10 halftime lead thanks to a pair of second-quarter touchdown passes by Moore (a 1-yarder to Dion Sims and a 52-yarder to Kenny Stills).

The Dolphins buried the Jets by scoring 21 points in a span of 4:04 in the third quarter, when Walt Aikens returned a blocked punt 11 yards for a touchdown before Moore connected for touchdown passes with Sims (1 yard) and Jarvis Landry (66 yards).

Moore, who last started Jan. 1, 2012 and spent the last four-plus seasons backing up Tannehill, finished 12 of 18 for 236 yards. He previously threw for three touchdowns in a game five times.

Moore is the first quarterback to go more than four years between starts since Chris Redman, who went five years and almost two months between starts for the Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons, respectively, in 2002 and 2007.

"I thought he did a good job," Dolphins head coach Adam Gase said, "The short week, we were just trying to put this thing together as clean as possible, get him to feel as comfortable as he possibly could."

The Jets (4-10), who have lost five of six, could be in the uncomfortable position of turning back to twice-benched starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Head coach Todd Bowles said Petty suffered a chest injury when he was hit by Wake and Suh and would undergo further tests on Sunday.

"We haven't gotten into any of that," Bowles said, regarding who would start if Petty is injured. "I'll wait for the tests and then we'll have meetings tomorrow."

Running back Bilal Powell had 162 yards on 27 touches (16 carries for 84 yards and 11 catches for 78 yards) while Petty was 20-of-36 for 235 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Jets, who absorbed their second prime-time blowout at home in less than two weeks. New York lost to the Indianapolis Colts, 41-10, on Dec. 5.

"I thought we were ready to play in the first half," Bowles said. "In the second half, as a head coach of this team, that's not looking very good right now."

NOTES: The Jets acknowledged the death of former TE Konrad Reuland during a first-quarter timeout. Reuland, who played for the Jets in 2012 and 2013, died Monday from complications stemming from a brain aneurysm he suffered Nov. 28. Reuland is the sixth former Jets player or coach to die this year. ... Dolphins CB Byron Maxwell suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and did not return. ... The Jets played on Saturday night for the second straight season but just the third time in franchise history. It was only the second Saturday night game for the Dolphins and their first since 1969.