Couldn't a player have called a timeout?

Stuff like that all goes back to coaching. If you don't break down the situation with your players, they are clueless.

I think it's human instinct for the other players to defer to the perceived 'leadership' in that situation (QB and HC). Since the 'leadership' was not questioned and they were the ones that were both clueless, the result is what we saw.

I am surprised though that one of the veteran players did not make the call.